A  2- 1-2> 


YODOGIMA 


IN     FEU  DALISTIC    JAPAN 


BY 


1.  WILLIAM  ADAMS 

AUTHOK  01 
-Hllil  *A\\  A.  THE   PASSING  OF   OLD  JAPAN,  KTC 


NEW  YORK 

THE  MIKILOSCH  PRESS 
1911 


COPYRIGHT,  1911 
BY  I.  WILLIAM  ADAMS 


Manufactured  by 
L.  H.  Jenkins,  Richmond,  Va. 


YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER   I 

JAPAN  lay  sweltering  with  uncertainty.  Four  cen 
turies  of  unbridled  warfare  had  reduced  her  once 
sturdy,  centralized  government  to  little  more  than  a 
revered  impotency ;  the  country  had  become  the  prop 
erty  or  the  booty  of  its  daimyos  —  those  knights- 
errant,  the  pride  of  a  nation. 

It  was  an  age  of  military  prowess,  of  unlicensed 
chivalry,  and  to  the  victor  belonged  the  spoils  —  till 
wrested  from  him,  by  another  more  powerful  or  less 
nice  about  the  taking. 

Shibata,  grizzled  and  fair,  sat  upon  the  veranda, 
looking  out,  over  the  ramparts,  across  the  moats, 
along  the  busied  streets,  to  the  mellowed  hillsides 
beyond.  It  was  all  his:  gained  by  life's  devoted,  loyal 
service,  not  to  self,  but  to  a  chosen,  rising  superior. 
It  had  now  come  time  for  him  to  assert  his  own 
supremacy;  the  lord  he  served  had  met  his  doom, 
gone  the  self  same  way  that  ambition  for  ages  had 
decreed  —  lay  shrouded  in  state,  with  his  good  rich 
blood  dripping  cold  at  the  dagger's  point. 

"Nobunaga  conceived  well,"  mused  he,  half  aloud, 
the  tears  fast  welling  in.  his  great  dark  eyes,  "but 

250181 


2  Y6DOGIMA 

Shibata,  his  oldest  captain,  alone  shall  finish  what 
the  master  undertook  —  Japan  must  be  subdued." 

The  skies  darkened  and  the  land-tempered  breeze 
calmed,  as  the  big  lord  rested  back  upon  the  soft- 
matted  floor,  gazing  now  afar  over  the  hill  tops 
toward  the  starry  vaulted  space  in  the  distance.  A 
little  maiden,  tender  and  eager,  with  black  eyes  and 
darker,  massive  hair,  stealing  near,  sat  at  his  side. 

Perhaps  she,  too,  dreamed  of  the  future,  for  she  had 
learned  to  love. 

Learned  to  love  as  the  Taira  maidens,  her  ancestors, 
of  a  half  thousand  years  ago,  had  not  attempted  to 
do.  The  deeds  of  daring  and  flights  of  fancy  through 
all  those  tumultuous  centuries  had  not  only  given  to 
man  the  privileges  of  individuality,  but  wrested 
woman  from  the  thraldom  of  the  ages  and  secured 
to  her  a  place  and  choice  worthy  her  being. 

Once  again  she  might  love  and  be  loved  —  though 
the  father's  command,  the  shogun's  decree,  or  the 
mikado's  will  stood  over  her,  in  fact,  as  law,  and  at 
heart,  both  materially  and  spiritually. 

Shibata  did  not  at  once  turn  to  her,  nor  did  he  take 
his  eyes  from  the  vision  conjured  within.  Conscious 
of  her  presence,  the  very  thought  burned  and  seared 
'deeper  and  firmer  his  ready-made  if  rigorous  antici 
pations.  Fortune  had  given  him  a  child  in  whom  the 
blood  of  Taira  made  possible  the  connection.  His 
own  efforts  had  carved  out  a  place  and  privilege. 
Their  chieftain's  death  afforded  the  opportunity.  By 


YODOGIMA  3 

the  sarcrifice  of  a  child  he  himself  would  gain  the 
shogun's  favor. 

"Yodogima?"  commanded  he,  after  a  while. 

"Yes,  father." 

"What  were  you  just  now  thinking  about?" 

"Amida,  most  honorable  father." 

"Your  own,  or  some  other  fair  one's  goddess  of 
mercy;  you  are  so  considerate,  my  daughter?" 

"Mine,  dear  father,"  replied  she,  without  any 
change  of  expression  or  an  apparent  heart-beat. 

"Humph!"  ejaculated  Shibata,  thoughtfully;  "it 
is  strange  how  affinities  get  mixed ;  I  myself  pos 
sessed  somewhat  a  consciousness — of  Amaterasu, 
though,  the  goddess  of  love.  I  wonder  what  is  the 
time ;  the  hour  must  draw  nigh :  the  barons  will 
soon  be  gathering ;  it  is  really  getting  dark.  You  may 
retire  now,  to  make  ready ;  Katsutoya  shall  be  present, 
and  your  maid  must  grow  impatient  —  though,  I 
promise,  nature  has  left  really  little  to  be  done,  and 
you  need  not  blush ;  a  father  is  privileged,  you  know.'' 

In  the  great  hall,  at  another  side  of  the  high-walled 
inclosure  —  with  its  ponderous  gate  and  turreted 
angles,  surrounding  a  network  of  tile-covered,  wood- 
lacquered  buildings  or  grained-post  colonnades,  with 
here  and  there  a  shrine  or  a  bell  or  a  row  of  lanterns 
or  a  fretwork  of  gold  —  sat  Sakuma  and  Gonroku,  the 
one  Shibata's  chief  captain  and  the  other  his  natural 
son. 

Sakuma  had  just  returned  with  added  laurels ;  a 
new  fief  or  more  had  been  wrested  from  Uesugi  (to 


4  YODOGIMA 

the  eastward)  his  master's  old-time  foe  and  a  daimyo 
of  undoubted  rank.  To  beat  him  in  battle  was  no 
mean  feat,  and  this,  Sakuma's  latest  triumph,  had 
once  more  demonstrated  the  power  and  efficiency  of 
Kitanoshi,  Shibata's  stronghold,  in  whose  castle  all 
the  great  barons  formerly  subject  to  Nobunaga  were 
then  about  to  assemble.  Shibata,  the  lord  daimyo  of 
all  Echizen,  had  issued  the  invitations,  ostensibly  to 
cement  friendships  and  perpetuate  in  authority  the 
house  of  their  late  master,  Nobunaga.  Gonroku,  too, 
felt  the  force  of  his  father's  growing  ascendency,  but 
may  have  been  just  now  a  little  jealous;  duties  else 
where,  to  the  westward,  escorting  Katsutoya  to  Naga- 
hama  castle  —  lately  surrendered  to  them  by  Hide- 
yoshi  —  had  disappointed  and  kept  him  personally 
from  the  latest  battle  field. 

The  perfume  of  azaelia  freshened  the  room ;  lanterns 
suspended  everywhere  cast  a  subdued  light  into  the 
farthest  corners;  soft,  velvety  matting  set  in  oblongs 
edged  round  with  black-lacquered  frames  covered  the 
floor  and  a  huge  vase  of  old  Satsuma  ware,  with  a 
single  scroll  hung  at  the  back,  constituted  the  only 
decoration.  Sakuma  and  Gonroku  had  come  in  early, 
and  seating  themselves  at  one  side  spoke  in  low  anxi 
ous  tones  or  whacked  cautiously  their  pipes,  as  con 
venience  required,  against  the  one  hibachi  (brazier) 
shared  between  them. 

"You  did  nobly,  Sakuma:  my  father's  house  owes 
much  to  your  abilities." 

Sakuma's  eyes  sparkled,  but  the  daring,  impulsive 


YODOGIMA  5 

soldier,  middle-aged  and  aggressive,  made  no  answer. 
He  knew  this  Gonroku :  knew  him  to  be  a  chip  off 
the  block  he  had  served  well  and  truly :  had  come  to 
regard  their  praise  and  assurance  at  its  true  worth. 
Yodogima's  words  would  have  pleased  him  more; 
she  inherited  well  her  mother's  traits.  The  Taira 
stock  had  taken  deep  root  in  the  princess,  and  above 
all  else  Sakuma  worshipped  at  this  ancient  particular 
shrine.  Then,  again,  she  had  advised  him  somewhat 
of  her  wishes  —  without  at  all  disclosing  any  motive, 
though  he  may  have  guessed  as  much  —  and  he  had 
sworn  in  secrecy  to  do  her  service  at  the  cost  of 
death;  be  that  his  own,  or  his  master's,  or  his  lord 
ship's  good  and  faithful  son's. 

"It  is  less  than  I  would  do,  were  Shibata  my  age," 
replied  Sakuma,  after  a  little,  striking  his  metal  pipe 
harder  than  was  polite  against  the  resonant  hibachi. 

''Father  is  rather  old,  and  a  bit  fidgety;  but  Gon 
roku  is  young  and  in  good  favors :  pray  don't  over 
look  that." 

"But  you  forget  Katsutoya.  I  must  confess  that 
I  thought  better  of  —  our  lord's  age  than  his  placing 
at  Nagahama,  in  the  front,  between  Kitanoshi  and 
Kyoto,  the  capital,  that  —  fellow,  only  an  adopted 
son,  even  though  he  carry  the  shogun's  blood  — 
poor  stuff,  in  these  days  —  a  thing  any  true  knight 
might  fairly  doubt." 

"Sh  —  h  —  h.  Not  above  a  whisper,  my  good 
Sakuma." 

"Why  so?    These  walls  have  no  ears,  I  promise." 


6  YODOGIMA 

"But  Hideyoshi  has.  They  say  his  spies  are  every 
where,  and  anywhere ;  and  some  —  I  told  you  so ; 
there  comes  Junkei,  now." 

"He's  an  ass  —  frivolous,  foolish,  and  a  mask:  a 
counterpart  of  the  monkey-faced  Hideyoshi  himself. 
I  shall  not  rise  —  what  say  you,  Gonroku  ?" 

"Flout  him ;  I  take  it  his  superior  shall  fare  no 
better  at  the  hands  of  the  daimyos." 

Junkei  pranced  in,  to  the  center  of  the  hall,  and 
without  pretending  to  see  anybody,  much  less  their 
host's  two  worthy  attendants,  turned  upon  his  heel, 
shouting: 

"Behold;  the  Great;  a  Hideyoshi  approaches!" 

No  sooner  had  the  echo  died  than  Hideyoshi,  the 
but  recently  created  daimyo  of  Omi;  self-intended 
master  of  Nobunaga's  leavings  and  loudly  proclaimed 
projector  of  the  peace;  with  the  commonest  kind  of 
low  down  blood  in  his  veins,  and  the  largest  aspira 
tions  in  his  mind ;  weasen-faced,  small,  stooped,  bullet- 
eyed  and  fiercely  aggressive,  yet  plausibly  reserved, 
angled  his  way  in,  displaced  his  long-sword,  handed 
it  to  his  own  attendant,  Junkei  —  who,  himself,  hung 
it  upon  the  wall  —  and  squatting  in  the  middle  of  the 
hall,  at  one  end  —  where  only  the  host  should  sit  — 
called  loudly  for  a  hibachi  and  attendance. 

Hearing  the  noise  and  discerning  the  occasion, 
their  host  entered,  followed  by  Ikeda,  daimyo  of 
Settsu ;  Niwa,  of  Wakasa ;  Maeda ;  Takigawa,  and 
other  invited  guests,  with  their  attendants,  including 
Kuroda  and  Takiyama,  noted  captains  under  Hide- 


YODOGIMA  7 

yoshi,  who  had  the  decency,  if  not  purpose,  to  comply 
with  established  etiquet  and  recognized  custom. 

Shibata  belonged  to  the  old  school,  the  bakufu, 
acknowledged  only  the  bushida  (code  of  chivalry), 
and  when  those  daimyos  observed  Hidcyoshi,  an 
upstart  and  outsider,  self-made  and  wilful,  usurping 
their  host's  privileged  place  and  rank,  feelings  some 
thing  akin  to  shame  if  not  resentment  possessed  them, 
one  and  all  alike. 

"Yes,  gentlemen ;  I  am  here,"  grinned  Hideyoshi, 
rubbing  his  hands  and  peering  among  them  —  with 
out  deigning  to  arise  —  "ready  for  business.  Our 
lord,  Xobunaga,  good  and  great,  as  he  was,  is  dead. 
The  work,  though,  which  he  began,  must  be  carried 
on.  It  behooves  us,  his  once  trusted  followers,  to 
get  together.  Come  close  up,  round  Hideyoshi ;  who, 
perchance,  feels  the  loss  more  keenly  than  any  other. 
Shibata,  my  old  friend  and  good  fellow,  bring  in  the 
sake  (wine).  We  barons  need  cheer,  and  Hideyoshi 
in  particular — " 

"Intends  to  shampoo  lord  Shibata.  That  is  why 
he  so  audaciously  usurps  his  place,"  interposed 
Sakuma,  coming  threateningly  up. 

"Well  said,  Sakuma;  I  remember  his  doing  so, 
once  before.  It  is,  though,  a  long  time  now  — .  How 
do  you,  Hideyoshi?  Is  your  hand  steady,  and  capa 
ble?  now  that  you  are  a  daimyo?  like  others  of  us? 
with  less  face?  however?"  remarked  Shibata,  taunt 
ingly. 

A   low   twitter   and   ready   gabble    ensued.      Only 


8  YODOGIMA 

Kuroda  and  Takiyama  remained  serious  or  composed. 
Junkei  danced  about,  unconscious  of  any  wrong,  till 
Hideyoshi  spoke: 

"Compose  yourself,  Junkei.  Did  not  the  queen 
Shomu  once  attend  a  beggar?  Why  should  not 
Hideyoshi  shampoo  Shibata?  His  hand  is  yet  true, 
and  the  heart  pure.  Come  Shibata :  prepare  yourself. 
Hideyoshi  shall  again  serve  his  oldest  friend." 

Such  complacency  in  the  face  of  so  mean  a  taunt 
fairly  unnerved  Hideyoshi's  bitterest  enemies,  and  at 
least  some  of  Shibata's  less  staunch  supporters  really' 
felt  that  such  a  man  —  one  who  could  so  govern  his 
temper  and  conserve  his  patience  —  must  of  necessity 
be  the  greater  man. 

Hideyoshi  began  the  shampooing  as  if  wont  to  do  a 
real  service,  and  Shibata  to  hide  his  only  too  patent 
chagrin  and  sorrow  at  such  defeat  pretended  to  sleep. 

"It  is  only  the  friendship  between  us  here  assem 
bled  that  restrains  our  enemies  scattered  everywhere 
around.  If  by  surrendering  Nagahama  to  Shibata  I 
have  strengthened:  if  by  shampooing  him  I  have  ce 
mented  that  bond,  then  Hideyoshi  has  done  a  good  ser 
vice  —  perhaps  the  end,  if  not  the  method,  shall  be 
deemed  worthy,  if  not  befitting." 

So  saying,  Hideyoshi  left  off  further  effort  at  con 
ciliation,  and  withdrawing  proceeded  thence,  toward 
Kyoto,  with  a  visible  escort  of  only  some  three  hun 
dred  men. 

Sakuma  would  have  followed,  possibly  to  no  small 


YODOGIMA  9 

purpose,  but  there  was  one  present,  a  small  baron, 
hitherto  unnoticed,  who  saw  farther  than  Shibata 
divined.  lyeyasu,  a  prince  from  Mikawa,  advised  that 
Hideyoshi  be  allowed  to  go  his  way  unmolested. 


io  YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  II 

TT'  ATSUTOYA,  in  whom  Shibata  was  personally 
-*-^  most  deeply  interested,  had  not  put  in  an 

appearance :  yet  no  pressing  duties  at  Nagahama  or 
elsewhere  could  possibly  have  kept  him  away. 

Though  of  no  particular  consequence,  this  young 
prince  was  generally  conceded  to  be  the  clandestine 
son  of  Yoshiaki,  the  then  de  jure  shogun,  who  had 
been,  a  number  of  years  theretofore,  deposed  and 
exiled  by  Nobunaga,  as  was  customary,  to  one  of  the 
many  monasteries  in  the  hills  of  Hiyeisan  to  the  rear 
of  Kyoto.  Shibata,  Nobunaga's  chief  captain,  no 
doubt  with  an  eye  to  the  future,  had  early  taken  in 
the  friendless  youth  and  by  adopting  him  as  a  son  — 
with  the  rank  and  title  of  a  captain  —  had  given  him 
respectable  standing:  perhaps  intending  him  to  be 
the  possible  means  of  later  on  obtaining  a  commis 
sion  from  the  shogun,  himself;  thus  legalizing  his 
warfare  against  his  neighbors  —  a  thing  every  daimyo 
of  consequence  aspired  above  all  else. 

Shibata,  chafed  at  Katsutoya's  omission  or  disobedi 
ence  and  Hideyoshi's  keen  eye,  readily  discerned  the 
possibilities  of  so  potent  a  failure. 

"Junkei?"  commanded  he,  as  he  and  his  train  ap 
proached,  on  the  way  to  Kyoto,  the  recently  surren 
dered  castle  of  Nagahama. 


YODOGIMA  ii 

"Yes,  my  lord." 

"Tell  Takiyama  Hideyoshi  would  pay  Katstitoya  a 
visit,  en  route." 

"What!" 

"Fool!  Control  yourself;  do  as  bid;  and  with  n 
good  face." 

"But  Katsutoya  is  an  enemy's  favorite,  and  we  have 
only  a  small  guard." 

"Hence  worth  our  while;  and  do  you  comprehend? 
Cease  conjecturing;  Hideyoshi  knows.  Nobunaga 
is  dead:  Yodogima,  mine." 

They  three  met  in  council  at  the  narrow  pass  lead 
ing  to  Katsutoya's  new  charge.  It  was  dark,  and 
Takiyama  conjured  new  dangers.  Hideyoshi  bade 
him  disarm  and  lead  the  way. 

"It  is  madness,"  whispered  Takiyama,  more 
thoughtful  of  himself  than  of  his  duty. 

"You,  a  Christian,  would  bear  arms,  visiting  upon 
a  neighbor?  Is  that  your  religion?" 

Takiyama  faltered,  and  Hideyoshi  proceeded.  His 
own  sword  had  not  been  cast  aside ;  courtesy  forbade 
it ;  but  upon  their  arrival  and  presentation  the  fear 
less  daimyo  of  the  new  school  unsheathed  his  master 
weapon  and  reversing  it  tendered  the  hilt  to  Katsu 
toya  ;  who  was  so  bewildered  with  respect  for  his 
visitor's  confidence  that  no  time  was  lost  in  the  form 
ing  of  a  friendship  that  for  once  set  a  new  example  and 
again  sent  Hideyoshi  on  his  way  the  wiser  for  his 
daring. 

Hideyoshi  had  gained  an  important  advantage  by 


12  YODOGIMA 

a  newly  tried  agency,  diplomacy  —  a  thing  his  com 
peers,  and  even  Nobunaga  his  superior,  had  deigned 
despise.  Triumphant  at  Kitanoshi  and  successful  in 
Nagahama,  a  double  prize  at  stake  and  a  soldier  like 
Kuroda  to  enforce  the  decree,  why  not  proclaim  him 
self  at  once? 

Nobunaga's  corpse  lie  in  state  at  the  capital,  and 
who  were  there  to  dispute  Hideyoshi,  now  that 
Shibata  remained  absent,  nursing  the  vexations  of 
sore  defeat? 

"Junkei?" 

"Yes,   my  lord." 

"Call  Kuroda." 

"I  think  he  sleeps;  you  know,  we  just  arrived  —  it 
is  only  a  trice  since  we  left  —  and  Kyoto  is  miles 
distant — " 

"Babbler!  Does  Hideyoshi  sleep?  Bring  Kuroda, 
before  your  neck  and  my  simiter  have  tried  their 
want." 

"Kuroda,  are  you  Hideyoshi's  captain?"  asked 
Hideyoshi,  presently. 

"Yes,  most  honorable  master." 

"Then  why" sleep?" 

"It  is   nature's   call." 

"Away  with  nature ;  the  gods  are  omnipotent. 
Would  you,  Kuroda,  serve  less?  No?  Then  listen. 
Hideyoshi  defies  both  God  and  man.  Marshal  your 
troops.  I  proclaim  myself." 

"They  sleep." 

"Give  then  gold,  and  they  shall  awaken." 


YODOGIMA  13 

"But  how  use  them  —  my  instructions  —  I  have 
nothing — " 

"What?  Kuroda,  my  captain,  a  beggar?  Have  I 
not  confidence  in  you?  A  better  age  dawns." 

"Command  me." 

"That  is  more  like  it.  Listen.  Nobunaga  lies 
unburied.  Let  all  Japan  witness  the  ceremony.  The 
gods  proclaim  their  precedence ;  Hideyoshi  shall  du 
reverence  first:  then  the  barons,  widows,  and  pre 
tenders  may  wrangle  out  their  proper  rank." 

"But  our  ancestors?" 

"Bosh!  With  Kuroda  and  Shintoism  on  the  one 
hand  and  Takiyama  and  Christianity  on  the  other, 
Hideyoshi  shall  wrought  anew.  Reverence  might  bet 
ter  rot;  manhood  waxes  original." 

The  shogun  forthwith  appointed  Hideyoshi  major 
general  of  all  the  mikado's  forces  —  gold  had  brought 
him,  too,  from  his  hiding:  a  ready  request  afforded 
the  occasion  —  and  all  the  daimyos  were  commando! 
to  appear  and  do  homage.  The  wealth  and  the  fashion 
of  the  nation  were  invited.  The  whole  populace  was 
instructed  to  come.  Such  a  gathering,  and  so  bold 
a  venture,  marked  a  new  era.  All  the  best  and  the 
most  vigorous,  the  intellectual  and  the  ambitious,  the 
strong  and  the  brave,  rallied  to  the  call  of  a  thirsty 
leader,  chose  to  lay  their  lives  at  the  altar  of  endeavor, 
and  to  grapple  for  the  first  time  with  an  individualism 
that  bade  fair  to  spring  from  the  very  roots  of  society, 
and  to  thrive  —  only  one  man  stood  silently  but  reso 
lutely  in  the  way. 


14  YODOGIMA 

Shibata  responded  to  the  call,  and  all  the  daimyos 
recently  subservient  to  the  dead  chief  were  there. 
Others  came  in  person,  or  sent  suitable  representa 
tives  ;  the  common  people  under  Hideyoshi's  imme 
diate  sway  rallied  in  numbers ;  samurai,  farmers,  arti 
sans,  and  merchants  alike  responded :  such  a  gathering 
of  wealth  and  power,  rags  and  poverty,  never  before 
had  assembled  to  do  reverence. 

Daitokige  temple  had  been  designated  by  Hide- 
yoshi  as  the  most  suitable  place  for  the  ceremonies 
and  workmen  rendered  it  into  a  veritable  dreamland. 
Flowers  and  bunting  and  gold  and  purple  contrasted 
significantly  with  the  white  gowns  and  mourning 
hoods  worn  by  the  rich  and  the  poor  alike. 

Shibata  and  his  suite  had  been  purposely  assigned 
to  the  place  of  honor.  Nowhere  were  Hideyoshi  and 
his  followers  to  be  seen  —  they  had  apparently  van 
ished  as  if  of  the  past  or  in  the  spirit  world,  along 
with  Nobunaga,  their  fallen  chief.  Yodogima  sal 
in  the  center,  surrounded  by  her  maids  and  friends, 
with  their  costumes  of  white  or  regalias  of  gold, 
banked  against  a  background  of  wealth  and  refine 
ment.  Far  up  the  hillsides  and  all  round  in  front  and 
to  the  rear,  sat  or  trod,  mingled  and  stared,  solid 
masses  of  straggling  groups  of  knighted  chevaliers  or 
gaping  underlings,  fair  maidens  and  rosy-cheeked 
damsels.  Presently  the  huge  gong  sounded  and  every 
body  there  bowed  reverently :  the  bonzes  (priests), 
kneeling  round  the  sepulchre  said  their  prayers,  and 


YODOGIMA  15 

Shintoism,  Buddhism,  and  Christianity  alike  awaited 
God,  conjured  a  Spirit,  bade  the  Overman  speak. 

Hideyoshi,  with  the  infant  heir,  Samboshi,  No- 
bunaga's  grandson,  in  his  arms,  stood  forth;  whence, 
no  one  knew.  A  voice,  amid  silence,  read  from  the 
tomb  the  order  of  the  day. 

Calmly  facing  the  shrine  and  beckoning  the  multi 
tude,  Hideyoshi  then  spoke : 

"I,  Hideyoshi,  protector  of  the  throne  and  conser 
vator  of  the  peace,  command  that  you  and  each  of 
you,  loyal  subjects,  give  heed  unto  Nobunaga's  will ; 
here  and  thence  to  you  voiced  by  the  good  and  great 
Yamato-Dake  (god  of  war).  Let  be  what  1  proclaim." 

Thereat  two  white  falcons  spread  their  wings  and 
flapped  away  into  space.  A  loud  roar  and  din  as  of 
horses  trampling  and  speeding  issued  from  the  temple. 
Armed  guards  sprang  forward  everywhere  —  out  of 
the  temples,  behind  the  gates,  into  the  streets,  around 
the  palace,  amid  the  hills  —  and  Kuroda  stood  ready 
to  strike  down  the  lowliest  and  the  highest  who  dared 
raise  a  hand  or  voice. 

Shibata  slunk  back,  and  amid  the  confusion  an  old 
woman  seemingly,  clad  in  black  with  drawn  hood, 
carrying  a  strange  bundle,  whispered  in  Yodogima's 
ear.  In  a  twinkling  the  knowing  princess  had  donned 
the  disguise  and  with  no  other  apparent  escort  made 
her  way  toward  Kitanoshi,  safely  tucked  away  behind 
the  mountain  range  in  the  distance. 


16  YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  day  dawned  bright,  and  all  Kitanoshi  livened 
with  anticipation.  Great  masses  of  foliage 
bended  or  thirsted  under  the  golden  dew  drops  that 
trickled  and  glistened  in  the  creeping  sun's  modest 
warmth.  Everywhere  men  and  women,  clad  in  com 
fort  or  donning  their  due,  wafting  song-words  or 
grumbling  at  fate,  busied  themselves  with  that  begin 
ning  which  marks  the  endless  round  of  time's  eternal 
quest  and  God's  immutable  law.  Little  had  been 
left  to  the  wild,  for  here  the  untrained  had  long  ago 
found  his  tenatless  haven ;  the  ox  and  the  fragile  alike 
had  surrendered  to  the  call  of  higher  being;  here, 
where  the  human  over-lords  the  beast,  man  went  his 
way :  marveled  only  at  the  beauties  of  God-striven 
energy. 

Shibata  eagerly  tripped  again  into  the  council 
chamber;  years  of  earnestness  sat  lightly  upon  his 
shoulders;  Takigawa  of  Ise  was  theie  to  meet  him; 
both  had  suffered  intolerable  insult  at  Hideyoshi's 
ruthless  assumption  of  authority,  and  now  that  others 
more  vain  or  less  discerning  sought  shelter  under  their 
own  disconsolate  roofs  these  two,  more  subtle,  if  less 
capable,  would  consolidate  forces  and  move  upon  what 
they  none  too  soon  conceived  to  be  a  common  necessity. 

lyeyasu  arose  later;  life  to  him  seemed  the  better 


YODOGIMA  17 

conserved  in  leisure ;  and  while  Shibata,  his  host,  and 
Takigawa,  his  neighbor,  wrangled  the  exigencies  of 
war,  or  planned  doubtful  expediencies,  a  more  invit 
ing,  though  perhaps  no  less  urgent  prospect  lolled  and 
soothed  the  gallant  young  daimyo  into  more  than  a 
customary  morning's  peaceful  dreaming  of  love's 
over-powering,  life-building  virtue. 

"Yodogima,  my  Yodogima,"  whispered  he,  as  the 
great  red  sun  arose  and  cast  its  fiery  rays  into  the 
opened  room  around  him. 

"You  are  mine,  for  Amaterasu,  the  good  sun  god 
dess,  reveals  you,  sweet  Yodogima,  in  every  trace  of 
her  lovely  countenance.  Come  closer,  oh,  my  darling ; 
come  closer,  that  lycyasu  may  feel,  may  know,  may 
live  the  divine.  You  are  my  savior,  earth's  true 
progenitor,  and  the  stars  in  heaven  reveal  but  your 
eternity.  O,  Amaterasu ;  O,  Jimmu  ;  O,  Yodogima  - 
my  Light,  my  Purpose,  my  God." 

The  waterfall  in  the  distance  murmured  its  time- 
honored  song  of  powers  subdued.  The  pine,  dwarfed 
into  miniature  proportions,  revealed  the  potency  of 
patience  rigidly  enforced.  Nodding  stones  here  and 
there  symbolized  again  and  anon  the  power  of  truth. 
A  half-hidden  lakelet  in  the  distance  conjured  a  mag 
nitude  there  impossible,  and  from  the  castle  crag  in 
the  garden's  center,  receding  round  to  the  dim  hori 
zon  beyond,  no  thing  remained  untouched  or  thought 
neglected  in  the  making  of  this  a  place  not  alone 
inhabitable  but  as  well  inviting. 

A  lone  lespedeza  straggled  and  bloomed  signifi- 


i8  YODOGIMA 

cantly  close  at  the  wall  side ;  where,  perhaps,  ages  ago 
its  fair  protege  long  since  a  goddess  had  met  and  won 
with  no  more  grace  a  far  less  gallant  lover.  Would 
Yodogima  come  there  too? 

lyeyasu  breathed  contentedly  of  its  fragrance  and 
willed -afresh  that  herein  lie  the  potency  of  man's  ever 
lasting  generation. 

A  cuckoo  came  and  cocked  itself  upon  the  side 
house-sill. 

"Sing  to  me,"  commanded  lyeyasu,  bending  for 
ward  intently. 

The  cuckoo  stood  stark  still,  amazed  at  the  sounn 
of  his  voice.  Some  ominous  thing  —  too  uncanny  for 
thought,  more  than  consciousness  would  reveal  — 
presently  suggested,  "I'll  kill  the  cuckoo  if  he  does 
not  sing." 

"No,  no ;  not  I  —  only  Nobunaga  could  say  that, 
lyeyasu  — " 

"Sing  to  me,"  demanded  he  this  time,  straightening 
up  defiantly. 

The  bird  ruffled  its  plumage,  as  if  ready  to  fly  or 
do  battle,  and  conscience  bade  him,  "I'll  make  the 
cuckoo  sing." 

Ah !  That  sounds  like  Hideyoshi.  Those  are  his 
sentiments.  lyeyasu  — " 

"Sing  to  me,"  said  he  now,  leaning  back  adroitly. 

The  little  thing  tucked  its  wings,  and  closing  one 
eye  stood  confidingly  in  the  warm  sun's  rays.  lyeyasu 
—  only  said : 

"I'll  wait  till  the  cuckoo  sings," 


YODOGIMA  19 

And  he  did  wait  —  but  presently  his  eyes  were 
opened  by  the  sound  of  a  voice  that  arose  not  from 
nature,  nor  from  the  ethereal,  for  his  own  conscious 
ness  revealed  it,  and  all  the  senses  rose  and  the  soul 
stooped  to  a  common  level.  lyeyasu,  the  one  prince 
who  had  resisted  every  temptation  to  yield  at  the 
call  of  devotion ;  who  had  withstood  the  force  of 
power,  ignored  the  claims  of  conquest,  and  shunned  at 
the  taste  of  wealth ;  who  had  succeeded  to  oppor 
tunity,  yet  studied  its  consequence ;  had  held  his  own 
against,  without  intruding  upon  others ;  partaken  of 
the  fruits  of  life  and  looked  forward  into  the  indeter 
minate  beyond  —  had  welcomed  any  test  that  man  or 
God  invoked,  now  stood  dazed  at  the  charm  of 
woman's  potency. 

He  loked  up,  and  the  same  green  vine  still  carried 
its  own  true  offering,  the  cuckoo  had  long  flown,  the 
sun  rose  and  the  earth  responded,  but  underneath  it 
all,  above  the  rest,  and  whence  he  knew  not,  came  the 
call  that  for  good  or  for  bad,  at  once  and  for  all,  too 
soon  or  too  late,  moved  him  to  do  and  to  know. 

"Come  to  me,"  cried  he,  thrilled  with  the  notes  that 
issued,  loftier  than  the  cuckoo's,  more  heavenly  than 
are  the  skies. 

"Come  to  me,"  repeated  he,  yet  composedly,  "for  it 
is  you,  Yodogima ;  none  other  could  sing  so  sweetly. 
I  must  have  you." 

Still  the  tanka  (verse)  issued,  its  soul-stirring  mes 
sage  only  tightened  the  grip  of  one  human  heart  upon 
another.  For  ages  these  gentle  maidens  and  their 


20  YODOGIMA 

ardent  suitors  had  dwelt  upon  its  perfection.  No  base 
word  had  been  left  to  mar  its  symmetry ;  not  a  thought 
of  mortality  jarred  the  sense;  the  unreal  had  been 
made  real ;  yet  hitherto  in  his  mind  no  voice  had  risen 
to  essay  its  value. 

lyeyasu  listened  and  Yodogima  rendered;  sang  as 
if  possessed  of  a  spirit  never  before  felt  or  touched, 
and  lyeyasu  hurled  at  constancy's  feet  all  that  tradi 
tion  or  enlightenment  had  vainly  invoked. 

A  power  unseen,  unfelt,  unknown,  held  supreme. 
The  best  that  the  energies  of  men  had  yet  devised 
stood  symbolized  in  this  one  man  lyeyasu  —  nobody 
disputed  that :  not  even  he  himself  at  heart  could  deny 
the  truth.  The  exigencies  of  birth,  the  value  of  train 
ing,  and  the  force  of  purpose  alike  marked  this  man 
as  a  leader  among  men.  A  full  consciousness  of  the 
responsibilities  urged  him  unequivocally  to  the  ful 
fillment  of  his  mission.  He  would  do  for  his  kind  no 
less  than  the  gods  had  done  for  theirs. 

But  here,  confronting  him,  arose,  commanding  at 
tention,  a  new  authority. 

Heretofore  men  and  women  had  been  considered 
one  —  man.  Were  it  possible,  after  all,  that  they,  too, 
were  separated  by  a  gulf  as  wide  as  that  between 
heaven  and  earth?  A  destiny  as  incomprehensible  as 
nirvana  itself?  A  province  as  distinct  as  that  revealed 
by  the  principles  positive  and  negative  ?  And  did 
God  but  stand  between  and  the  devil  behind  them? 
Was  it  the  devil  between  and  the  gods  behind?  Or 


YODOGIMA  21 

were  the  gods  beckoning  them  alone,  and  unhindered 
except  by  man  himself? 

These  were  stirring  questions  for  lyeyasu,  who  had 
conceived  Shinto,  then  suffered  Buddha,  at  last  to 
become  threatened  of  Christ. 

Thought  crowded  upon  him  till  his  head  seemed  in 
a  whirl  and  only  the  body  responded  —  to  what  he 
did  not  know;  no  lone  man  could  tell. 

Yodogima  sat  upon  the  lacquered  bench,  under 
neath  the  spreading  lespedeza,  innocent  of  a  thought 
beyond  the  duty  to  which  she,  the  eldest  daughter  01 
the  host  and  betrothed  of  a  superior,  Katsutoya,  had 
been  assigned.  Her  place  in  the  household  made  it 
incumbent  upon  her  to  entertain  at  this  hour  of  the 
day  a  guest  and  patron  of  the  rank  and  standing  of 
lyeyasu. 

The  flowers  overhead  bespoke  her  innocence;  tlie 
verse  she  sang  portrayed  a  devotion  unquestioned ; 
while  the  dressing  of  her  hair,  the  manner  of  her 
garments,  and  the  method  of  her  doing  signified  an 
age,  station  and  disposition  not  to  be  mistaken. 

Yet  the  pathos  and  the  inspiration  of  her  voice 
revealed  an  inner  consciousness  that  is  neither  bought 
of  preferment  nor  satisfied  with  precedent.  The  plain 
tive  mournful  notes,  the  anxious  eager  accents,  the 
glad  forgiving  tones,  all  invited  repose,  stirred  the 
interest  and  awakened  impulse.  lyeyasu  conjured 
within  his  over-burdened  conscience  a  duty  consistent 
alike  with  inner  compulsion  and  outward  exigencies. 
He  would  surrender  position,  opportunity,  everything 


22  YODOGIMA 

to  save  his  manhood :  the  very  soul  of  being  called 
aloud  from  the  uttermost  depths  of  unreality  —  the 
real  paled  with  insignificance,  the  things  around  him 
shrivelled  into  nothingness,  the  earth  itself  rocked 
upon  an  uncertain  axis,  and  the  heavens  alone  bade 
him  do. 

He  would  have  cried  out,  but  words  seemed  a 
mockery ;  gathered  her  in  his  arms,  had  it  not  been 
vulgar;  touched  her  with  his  lips,  were  not  the  flesh 
a  repulsive  thing ;  entranced  her  with  a  look,  coaxed 
her  with  promises,  inveigled  her  with  deception,  stolen 
her,  coerced  her,  done  anything  to  get  her  —  but  the 
tenents  of  his  religion  forbade. 

Numberless  generations  of  denial  had  made  of  him 
a  man.  All  the  instincts  of  brute  being  stood  lost 
behind  the  ages  of  progressive  enlightenment.  The 
tutelage  of  an  ancestry  that  fancy  painted  looking 
down  with  each  star  twinkle,  that  science  tore  from 
the  hard  face  of  phenomenon,  that  existence  itself 
proclaimed  with  every  heart-beat,  guided  this  man  and 
this  woman  toward  an  only  rational  attainment,  to  a 
predestined,  uncontrollable  end. 

Man  in  his  weakness  had  thought  differently  —  no 
age  had  brought  forth  more  than  conformity,  here  or 
elsewhere  on  earth ;  history,  travel,  and  science  had 
proven  that,  and  these  men  and  women  were  not 
devoid  of  understanding  —  had  conceived  the  earth 
as  of  heaven,  conjured  their  state  to  be  coexistent 
with  the  earth,  and  made  man  at  once  a  master  and 


YODOGIMA  23 

its  slave :  woman  had  become  the  handmaid  of  fortune, 
the  instrument  of  fate,  and  the  idol  of  the  gods. 

lyeyasu  pondered,  and  Yodogima  wrought. 

Clothed  in  garments  that  obliterated  all  trace  of 
form  or  suggestion,  of  a  texture  that  hid  the  weave  and 
a  making  that  disclosed  no  stitch,  yet  displayed  a 
handiwork  as  perfect  as  it  was  simple ;  her  hair  waved 
and  fastened  round  without  an  ornament  or  a  device 
that  could  be  seen ;  her  feet  sandalled  in  earthen-like 
wood,  and  her  nails  pink  and  cheeks  olive  and  eyes 
trustful,  Yodogima  revealed  in  her  presence  and  strove 
with  a  purpose  all  that  time  had  been  able  to  wrest 
from  an  humbler  beginning.  The  green  turf,  the 
broken  sky  line,  birds  of  plumage  and  the  fragrance 
of  flowers,  the  open  expanse  or  covered  nook,  all 
bespoke  a  care  and  a  concern  intended  to  move  and  to 
weld  mankind. 

Yodogima  remained  seated,  underneath  the  shade, 
amid  an  environment  made,  not  creative.  The  sun 
drove  its  rays  fiercer  and  more  propellingly  against 
lyeyasu's  stand.  It  remained  for  him  to  give;  she 
could  but  receive.  Love  beamed  from  every  distance, 
floated  in  close  upon  them,  arose  subtilely  within, 
grew  hard  without,  compelling,  exacting,  and  vital, 
lyeyasu  strode  down  the  chiselled  steps  —  overcome 
with  the  joy  of  doing,  forgetful  of  every  mandate  in 
restraint  —  and  falling  upon  his  knees  before  her, 
whispered : 

"Yodogima,    I   love   you." 

Her  song  only  quickened,  then  lowered  a  little,  per- 


24  YODOGIMA 

haps  the  least  bit  pathetically. 

There  was  neither  exultation  nor  regret,  though 
for  the  moment  a  faint  realization  of  duty  —  arising 
from  a  constantly  receding  past,  battling  against  an 
urgently  progressive  present  —  flushed  apparently, 
then  whitened  perceptibly  her  face :  she  sang  more 
sweetly,  if  less  deeply,  than  before. 

lyeyasu's  eyes  fell  to  the  pebbled  floor  and  his  soul 
seared  with  anticipation. 

Would  she  bid  defiance  away,  under  the  stress  of 
heart?  Or  would  she  starve  self,  to  uphold  tradition? 
The  tanka  progressed,  and  lyeyasu  trembled  under 
neath  advancement's  harsher  demands ;  time  had 
wrought  his  inevitable  change.  Ages  ago  his  nearest 
ancestors  had  snatched  the  coveted  morsel  and 
gorged  unchallenged  behind  a  fiercer  defy.  Yet  still 
farther  back  and  over  that  again  stood  Amaterasu, 
benign,  supreme,  unquestioned.  Whence  this  fleet 
ing  thought  of  man  ?  Were  he  but  the  crude  remnant 
of  an  unbroken  descent  thence  the  God  of  gods? 
Man,  only  a  product  of  decline,  groping  his  way  from 
past  to  present;  often  recovering,  then  again  but 
losing;  only  to  sink  still  lower,  more  hopelessly,  till 
dust  once  and  forever  claimed  him?  Were  hell  his 
goal,  or  heaven  his  due?  The  tanka  alone  answered. 

Her  notes  quickened,  and  it  strengthened  him: 
there  remained  but  a  single  verse,  and  it  seemed  as  if 
breathing  were  a  penalty. 

Sakuma  passed  them  by,  at  some  distance,  in  the 
garden  below.  The  concerned  captain  had  just  left 


VODOGIMA  25 

the  council  chamber,  and  walking  as  if  in  a  hurry, 
toward  the  armory,  not  far  distant,  underneath  the 
inner  ramparts,  at  the  farther  side  of  the  castle  enclos 
ure,  without  observing  the  lovers,  well  hidden  behind 
the  overhanging  vine's  long  drooping  branches  —  they 
were  as  unmindful  of  him  as  he  was  careless  about 
them  —  Sakuma  only  heard,  though  marvelled  its 
more  than  usual  pathos  the  last  informing  strains  oi 
Yodogima's  world-appealing  message. 

Knowing  though  who  her  auditor  might  be  and 
divining  the  occasion  for  such  feeling — only  the 
last  measures  had  reached  him  distinctly  —  there 
appeared  no  need  for  any  closer  contact :  the  grizzled 
veteran  went  his  way,  determined,  however  convinced. 

Yodogima  and  lyeyasu  both  had  risen,  and  stand 
ing  facing,  each  bowed  earnestly,  meditating  deeply 
the  responsibilities  they  had  then  for  all  time  of  their 
own  will  so  freely  assumed. 

"Pardon  me,  lyeyasu;  I  did  not  mean  to  be 
irreverent.  Some  ungovernable  impulse  truly  pos 
sessed  me  —  relieve  and  forget." 

"Forget  I  could  not,  and  why  relieve?  Is  it  not 
meet  to  take?" 

"You  know  my  father's  will." 

"And  I  know  yours." 

"And  your  own?" 

"Yes." 

"You  disadvantage  me." 

"I'll  prove  it's  not  a  quandary." 

"Then  I  am  vours,  for  I  have  confidence  in  you,  and 


26  YODOGIMA 

confidence  rightfully  bestowed  is  truly  real  liberty 
won." 

"Quite  democratic,  Yodogima,  and  —  perchance 
justly  so;  were  men  without  some  wholesome  check 
the  world  should  sooner  reach  its  final  doom." 

"But  we  live,  lyeyasu,  and  —  is  not  life  worth  the 
while?  Does  it  not  portend  something  more  than 
merely  living?" 

"It  would  were  it  not  for  the  price  —  but  trust  me, 
Yodogima ;  I  live  only  for  you." 

"I  do." 

"Then  you  are  mine,  and  the  world  can  take  care  of 
itself." 

They  bowed  low,  and  lyeyasu,  strengthened,  as  only 
a  wholesome  appreciation  can  strengthen,  took  his 
leave,  fully  determined  to  remove  every  obstacle  to 
the  consummation  of  a  love  that  had  grown  and 
ripened  from  childhood  associations,  that  germinated 
with  an  earliest  contact  and  sent  its  roots  deep  down 
into  the  fertile  soil  of  a  consciously  overpowering 
affinity. 

Yodogima  stood  still  at  first,  fairly  puzzled  at  the 
daring  of  lyeyasu's  conception. 

All  that  time  or  task  had  taught  her  seemed  crushed 
underneath  a  possible  truth.  Were  man  but  a  stretch 
between  something  and  nothingness,  then  generation 
must  be  a  curse  and  love  only  a  consequence.  And 
if  it  were  not  true  and  marriage  were  a  thing  in  which 
a  parent,  the  state,  or  society  at  large  rightly  had  an 


YODOGIMA  27 

interest,  then  her  answer  had  been  a  crime;  she  had 
transgressed,  and  therein  must  lie  the  sin. 

Then  she  remembered  that  the  sages  had  sung  in  all 
lands  and  at  all  times  of  man's  strength  and  woman's 
worse  than  weakness. 

"I  will  trust  him  and  he  shall  prove  the  truth." 

Yodogima  ran  out  of  the  bowery  and  into  the  open : 
lyeyasu  turned,  the  sun  reflected  its  rays,  and  in  that 
parting  look,  only  a  tender  glance,  a  message  from 
thence,  she  beheld  her  God. 

lyeyasu  hurried  on,  toward  his  mission;  the  noise 
at  the  armory,  Shibata's  high  purpose,  and  his  own 
inner  determination  bade  him  act  quickly  and  know 
ingly  were  he  to  save  Yodogima  —  he  did  not  appre 
hend  Sakuma ;  lyeyasu  was  only  human ;  other  exi 
gencies  than  his  there  were  in  more  directions  than 
one. 

Xow  that  her  lover  had  gone,  removed  himself 
beyond  the  fetch  or  force  of  feeling,  Yodogima,  too, 
at  once  realized  with  all  the  ableness  of  intellect  at 
her  command  —  strengthened  and  driven  by  a  will 
as  heartless  as  it  was  unremitting  —  a  duty  that  till 
then  had  lain  dormant  under  the  influence  of  a  con 
trolling  if  perhaps  inexcusable  situation.  Not  that  she 
pondered  the  course  that  he  would  pursue,  no  more  the 
virtue  of  their  undertaking;  it  were  for  him  to  deter 
mine  successfulness :  God  alone  might  judge  them 
true  or  false  —  but  her  father,  the  one  who  had  given 
her  place  and  opportunity,  who  had  conceived  dif 
ferently,  was  at  that  very  moment  embarking  upon 


28  YODOGIMA 

enterprises  and  assuming  responsibilities  wholly 
dependent  upon  her. 

And  one  false  step,  a  single  controverted  thought, 
must  necessarily  lead  to  his  uncertain  downfall  —  his 
death  had  been  a  small  thing,  her  own  a  welcome 
sacrifice,  but  the  bushida !  Hell  itself  were  a  blessing 
as  compared  with  everlasting  disgrace. 

The  blood  fairly  froze  in  her  veins,  thought  refused 
obeisance,  fain  spirit  paled  at  the  consequence,  and 
only  duty  urged  her  now ;  she  must  speak,  she  would 
save  him,  she  should  uphold  tradition,  even  at  the  cost 
of  self. 

"Father,"  begged  she,  accosting  him  at  the  thres 
hold  of  his  abandoned  chamber,  his  friend,  Takigawa, 
supporting  him  vainly,  close  at  one  side. 

"Yes,  daughter." 

"Please  return  into  the  house ;  I  should  like  to 
speak  with  you." 

"What?  A  daughter  thrust  herself  into  a  father's 
affairs?  Did  you  hear  that,  Takigawa?" 

"It's  like  a  woman :  I  can  retire,  and  let  her  have 
her  say,  if  only  for  once ;  it  can  do  no  harm,  Shibata." 

"Not  so,  Takigawa.  Wives  pleading,  daughters 
interferring,  and  everybody  for  himself,  these  days  — 
I  tell  you  Hideyoshi  is  the  curse  of  this  land.  On  with 
the  business,  and  when  Shibata  has  laid  low  the  last 
of  them,  stood  right  above  might  and  attained  his 
rightful  place,  then  Katsutoya  may  rule  and  Yodogima 
can  speak  —  consolation  is  a  husband's  due,  obedience 
a  parent's  command," 


YODOGIMA  29 

"Honorable  father—" 

"Tut,  tut;  Shibata's  child  knows  not  irrever 
ence.  See  her,  my  lord  ?  Ha,  ha ;  how  gracefully  she 
falls!  An  angel  could  not  look  sweeter,  there  is  no 
better  plaything  —  let  us  be  off,  Takigawa,  lest  we 
disturb  her  and  miss  the  enemy ;  it  is  a  long  way  to 
Shizugataka." 


30  YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  IV 

RESENTLY  the  hillsides,  far  out  over  the  noised- 
up  city,  rang  with  the  bustle  and  cry  of  "To 
arms".  No  patriot  there,  not  a  samurai's  mother,  but 
thrilled  with  the  joy  and  strengthened  at  the  bidding 
of  higher  endeavor. 

Only  the  mean,  the  weak,  and  the  unpatriotic  would 
question  expendiency ;  small  men  with  little  souls 
might  buy  to  sell  again ;  others  of  brawn,  their  minds 
a  mirage,  fashion  the  wares,  drones  and  idlers  drive 
and  shout  their  wives  and  children  to  plant  and  draw 
—  men  and  women,  humans  with  a  purpose  and  a 
promise  higher  and  nobler  than  grubbing  for  food  or 
hackling  for  exchange  or  bartering  for  gold  served  a 
usefulness,  encouraged  a  hope,  and  pointed  the  way 
toward  that  rendering  which  make  men  large ;  the 
ideal  portended  a  reality  which  bid  them  not,  ever, 
stoop  to  sordid,  useless  gain. 

The  lines  formed,  and  no  more  pleasing  scene  had 
come  down  through  time  or  fancy ;  men  with  hardened 
muscle  and  bronzed  arms,  their  eyes  sparkling  and 
step  quickened,  with  spears  levelled  and  cutlasses 
buckled  on,  tramped  to  time  and  listened  with  intent. 

"Open  the  gates,  and  down  with  the  bridge," 
shouted  the  captain,  as  a  hundred  thousand  brave 
troops  turned  their  backs  upon  peace  and  stores  to 


YODOGIMA  31 

face  the  exigencies  of  uncertain  warfare  —  an  under 
ling's  last  sad  gasp  at  fate  and  the  godly 's  only  reach 
to  greatness. 

War  —  the  one  thing  that  makes  man  better  than 
his  neighbor,  bridges  the  chasm  between  life  and 
death,  raises  a  hope  superior  within.  \Yar  —  the 
slogan  of  nature,  and  the  handmaid  of  creation.  War 
—  the  savior  of  mankind,  at  the  cost  of  brute,  stirred 
them  as  it  had  their  fathers  to  superhuman,  trans 
cendent  energy. 

They    marched    past   the    shops  —  in   which    syco 
phants  wrangled  this  and  that;  through  the  woods 
where  cutters  and  hewers  sweat  or  chewed ;  over  the 
plains,  amid  sustenance  born  of  fain   indifference  — 
into  the  mountains,  lofty,  grand  and  inspiring. 

The  roads  ran  smooth  and  easy  up  the  long  sloping 
ascent,  they  were  builded  and  used,  for  a  like  pur 
pose,  long  before  Shibata's  rise  had  conjured  sub 
limity's  ultimate  pass.  Presently  sounds  beyond 
echoed  again  the  uncertainties  of  dame  progress.  The 
dizzy  heights  scaled  measured  accurately  the  cost  «>f 
further  effort.  Ominous  clouds  darkened  the  way. 
Shibata  at  last  lagged,  and  a  fox  leaped  from  the  road 
side. 

"Gonroku!  Gonroku  !"  whispered  Shibata,  spring 
ing  from  his  chair  and  peering  into  darkness. 

"Yes,  father,"  replied  the  son.  a  little  surprised,  but 
not  altogether  unconvinced. 

'The  enemy !  Cannot  you  see  them  ?  They  come 
in  columns  touching  the  seas:  ranks  receding  —  I  can- 


32  YODOGIMA 

not  number  them  —  reaching  beyond  the  horizon. 
Katsutoya  leads  them." 

"Impossible,"  shouted  Sakuma.  "On  with  the 
march." 

"Listen,"  whispered  Shibata,  now  white  in  the  face 
and  unsteady  of  foot. 

"They  do  mock  Sakuma,"  ventured  Gonroku,  be 
fore  the  first  echo  had  again  resounded  upon  the  still 
resonant  air. 

"Listen,"  repeated  Shibata,  his  eyes  like  fireballs  in 
the  dark. 

"A  thousand  answers,"  said  Gonroku ;  now,  too, 
almost  convinced. 

"You  see  phantoms,  and  Sakuma  hearkens  not  to 
goblins.  Old  women  and,  I  believe,  some  men  still 
read  disaster  into  the  appearance  of  a  fox  —  dogs, 
badgers,  lizards,  etc.  If  Katsutoya  really  be  a: 
Shizugataka,  it  is  high  time  that  we  arrest  him.  And 
if  Hideyoshi  has  been  so  reckless  as  to  risk  a  host  in 
one  defense,  so  much  the  better  for  Shibata ;  the  way 
shall  have  been  cleared  to  Kyoto  with  a  single  stroke 
and  —  if  I  mistake  not,  Kyoto  without  Katsutoya 
would  be  quite  as  acceptable  at  least  to  a  part  of 
Kitanoshi  as  it  should  be  with  hi  —  a  phantom." 

"What  means  Sakuma,  father?"  inquired  the  son, 
perchance  more  intelligently  than  judiciously. 

"Let  him  take  his  own  proper  command,  and  him 
self  prove  that  prophecy  is  not  blasphemy  —  by  send 
ing  up,  to  this,  a  secure  place,  for  you  and  me,  the 
head  of  this  'phantom/  as  he  calls  it." 


YODOGIMA  33 

"Good,"  responded  Sakuma  —  and  division  agaiti 
strengthened  Hideyoshi's  position. 

With  calling  at  Nagahama,  Hideyoshi  had  made 
easy  the  plan  of  turning  an  enemy's  ready  contingent 
into  a  no  less  effective  than  willing  instrument. 

Katsutoya  had  never  loved  Yodogima,  and  out  of 
promotion  had  conceived  the  idea  also  that  Shibata, 
his  benefactor's  purpose,  were  a  hindrance  rather  than 
a  help  to  his  vainly  imagined  restoration.  Further, 
this  particular  young  princess,  according  to  his  nicely 
wrought  notions,  did  not  at  all  augur  the  fulfillment  of 
an  Ashikaga  shogun's  well-reputed  requirements  — 
and  Katsutoya's  dreams  were  already  resplendent  with 
all  that  had  made  his  supposed  ancestors  of  some 
three  hundred  years  tolerable  if  not  respectable. 

"The  bargain  is  a  just  one,  Hideyoshi,"  promised 
he,  contemplatively.  "Shibata's  daughter  would  serve 
better  the  necessities  of  a  daimyo  like  yourself  — 
Katsutoya  shall  have  more  the  need  of  an  humbler  ser 
vice  ;  take  her  and  welcome ;  but  why  risk  my  neck  at 
the  front?  If  you  would  serve  me  as  shogun  then 
secure  me  a  man." 

"Just  so.  And  nothing  is  safer  or  saner  or  sounder 
than  self-made  security  —  go  against  this  man 
Sakuma ;  the  rest  are  only  women,  fit  to  gobble." 

"Then  it  is  gobble,  gobble,  and  Shizugataka  for 
me." 

"Perhaps.  You  know,  though,  that  Hideyoshi  is 
reputed,  there." 

Katsutoya  led  his  troops  to  the  defense  of  Shizu- 


34  YODOGIMA 

gataka,  Hicleyoshi's  outlying  stronghold  against 
Shibata's  well-worn  approach ;  but  no  sooner  had 
camp  been  struck  than  Sakuma  hurled  Shibata's  ad 
vance  force  against  him.  The  battle  raged,  and 
Katsutoya  wavered;  surprise  had  overcome  him,  and 
defeat  completed  the  rout.  Sakuma  would  have  fol 
lowed  up  his  success  and  gained  Yodogima  the  head, 
not  the  hand,  of  Katsutoya  had  not  Gonroku  hailed 
him  in  the  distance ;  Shibata  had  again  seen  the  fox  — 
saw  Hideyoshi's  phalanx  scaling  the  mountains  to  the 
left  —  and  sent  Gonroku  to  recall  Sakuma  that  he 
might  make  haste  to  save  Kitanoshi  itself. 

"O  Jimmu;  O  Katsutoya;  O  Yodogima,"  mur 
mured  Shibata,  as  Gonroku  disappeared  down  the 
mountain  side. 

A  forced  march  soon  brought  Gonroku's  reserves 
within  knowing  distance  of  Sakuma's  victorious  divi 
sion. 

Katsutoya  had  recovered  himself  on  the  opposite 
side  of  Yodo  lake.  Sakuma  grew  impatient  to  take 
him,  but  Gonroku  fired  at  the  thought  of  a  hireling's 
success  and  balked  at  the  proposal,  denying  even  the 
identity  of  their  enemy. 

"It  is  Katsutoya,  I  tell  you,  and  unless  destroyed 
our  very  lives  are  in  danger." 

"You  err,  Sakuma ;  and  till  you  prove  me  wrong  you 
shall  command  no  more  than  a  body  guard." 

With  only  six  men,  seven  including  himself,  Sakuma 
plunged  through  the  reeds,  once  more  into  the  heat 
of  battle,  and  the  fighting  renewed  now  in  desperation ; 


YODOG1MA  35 

Gonroku  looked  on  with  a  smile.  Valient  men  gath 
ered  round  and  Sakuma  spied  their  bogie  hero.  Cut 
ting  and  slashing  his  way  thither,  at  last  the  coveted 
thing  dropped  helpless  at  a  stroke;  but  lo !  was  it  only 
a  fox's  head? 

Katsutoya  had  flown,  and  the  phantom  army  no 
longer  a  reality  Sakuma  gathered  up  the  gruesome 
thing  and  hastening  thither  bowed  humbly  as  tradi 
tion  demanded;  Gonroku  sent  him  away,  to  wander 
in  the  woods,  as  others  had  done  before,  a  ronin  and 
a  failure  —  Hideyoshi  thus  chanced  upon  him. 

"What  have  you  there,  Sakuma?" 

Sakuma  hid  his  face. 

'\Speak,  Sakuma ;  a  friend  asks  it." 

Could  this  man,  a  daimyo,  so  degrade  himself  as 
to  speak  to  an  eta  (outcast)  ?  His  appearance  dis 
closed  the  cast,  and  Hideyoshi  had  eyes,  it  was 
claimed,  in  the  back  of  his  head.  He  must  answer, 
yet  dare  not  utter  a  word  in  the  presence  of  a  supe 
rior;  custom  forbade  it,  and  he  had  just  learned  a 
lesson.  No ;  a  subterfuge  must  serve  him :  so  thinking, 
Sakuma  dropped  his  burden,  and  slunk  back  out  of 
sight. 

"Ha,  ha,"   muttered  Hideyoshi;  "a  fox's  head  — 
I'll  warrant  he  thought  it  Katsutoya's  —  reputed  son 
of   a    foxier   monk   than    Nobunaga   or   Christianity 
has  yet  outwitted. 

''Here,  Junkei.  Exchange  this  for  the  real  —  no; 
he's  safe,  atop  Hiyeisan,  I'll  warrant;  a  like  one  will 
do.  Understand  me?" 


36  YODOGIMA 

"Yes,  honorable  master." 

The  likeness  was  soon  enough  returned  —  there 
were  plenty  of  them  in  the  ranks  —  and  Sakuma  was 
again  brought  in. 

''Sakuma,  you  think  yourself  unfit  to  address  even 
me:  look  at  this,"  commanded  Hideyoshi,  holding  up 
to  view  the  bloodless  face. 

Sakuma  obeyed ;  there  was  no  law  or  privilege  that 
he  knew  depriving  him  of  so  flagrant  a  sight.  All 
the  joys  of  heaven  could  not  have  won  him  more ; 
it  seemed  to  be  the  head  he  really  coveted. 

"I  am  your  servant,"  promised  he,  and  the  two  of 
them  bowed  respectfully. 

"Then  carry  this  thing  forthwith  to  Shibata;  it 
shall  be  the  means  no  less  of  his  undoing  than  of 
Yodogima's  making  —  " 

"Of  lyeyasu  —  a  plaything." 


YODOGIMA  37 


CHAPTER  V 

SAKUMA  had  served  his  master  and  met  the  foe 
as  became  his  better  judgment ;  but  an  older  belief 
on  the  one  hand  and  newer  tactics  on  the  other  de 
feated  him. 

The  master  himself  was  harrassed  with  a  ruse  no 
less  potent  to  the  southward;  Hideyoshi  had  sent 
Niwa  —  fired  at  the  promise  of  spoils  —  with  only 
forty  men,  to  light  torches  on  the  mountain  side, 
and  Shibata,  overloaded  as  he  was,  saw  here,  too,  a 
great  force :  Hideyoshi,  hearing  of  Katsutoya's  defeat 
and  Shibata's  fears,  threw  down  his  chop  sticks  and 
jumping  to  his  feet,  exclaimed  with  joy: 

%<I  have  won.  I  have  won  a  great  victory."  Then 
mounting  his  horse,  rode  out  to  battle  as  became  him. 

"Takiyama,  with  one-half  the  army,  will  move 
upon  the  northern  pass:  Kuroda,  with  the  other  half, 
hold  against  the  southern :  Hideyoshi,  with  his  staff 
and  a  small  body  guard,  shall  make  his  way,  as 
best  he  can,  between  the  two,  toward  —  Kitanoshi. 
Let  no  temporary  success  induce  either  one  of  you 
to  venture  into  the  enemy's  territory ;  Hideyoshi  com 
mands." 

The  actual  presence  of  these  two  vast  armies  drove 
consternation  finally  into  the  hearts  of  Shibata's  now 
wavering  followers.  Takiyama  cut  down  Gonroku's 


38  YODOGIMA 

halting  force  in  the  north  and  sent  the  jealous,  vacil 
lating  son  himself  into  the  hills  a  loser  and  a  rene- 
grade.  Kuroda  met  and  dispersed  Takigawa  and  his 
relieving  army,  Shibata's  ally,  at  the  south.  Hide- 
yoshi  had  met  and  dispatched  Sakuma  upon  a  still 
deadlier  mission  —  Shibata  had  been  routed  and,  with 
only  a  hundred  staid  adherents,  made  his  way  toward 
Kitanoshi,  fully  resolved  upon  his  course  —  but  it 
remained  for  another  to  turn  the  trick  to  some  pur 
pose  other  than  ruthless  bloodshed  alone. 

After  parting  with  Yodogima  at  Kitanoshi,  lye- 
yasu  had  made  his  way  forthwith  to  castle  Fuchu, 
his  friend  Maeda's  estate,  in  Echizen,  near  by,  with 
the  settled  intention  of  forming  some  sort  of  alliance 
that  might  enable  him  to  take  and  hold  his  love, 
Yodogima,  no  matter  what  the  outcome  between 
Shibata,  her  father,  and  Hideyoshi,  the  usurper. 

Thus  when  Shibata,  too,  in  his  retreat,  called  there, 
to  ask  the  loan  of  a  fresh  horse,  the  two  were  brought 
into  direct  contact  most  unexpectedly. 

''You  are  a  young  man,  lyeyasu;  and,  were  I  in 
your  place,  I  should  make  peace,  with  Hideyoshi. 
For  me,  it  is  impossible;  I  must  save  the  honor  of 
my  house,  as  our  fathers  before  us  have  done.  Take 
heed,  my  friend." 

Both  lyeyasu  and  Maeda  proffered  him  assistance, 
or  an  escort,  but  he  refused  them.  The  former  be 
cause  it  were  too  late  —  his  mind  had  been  made 
up  —  and  as  to  the  latter  it  might  endanger  them 


YODOGIMA  39 

and  disgrace  him  were  they  to  be  seen  leading  a 
suicide  to  his  mat. 

"My  family  awaits  me;  it  is  alone  their  due  and 
my  privilege,  this  honored  rite.  Good-bye." 

lyeyasu  fell  back,  dazed  -with  the  intelligence ;  he 
knew  that  Maeda  would  keep  his  word,  and  that  every 
member  of  the  household  should  share  his  fate.  No 
descendant  of  the  Taira  would  be  found  wanting  or 
unmindful  of  the  bushida  —  Yodogima  must  be  saved, 
if  at  all,  by  some  agency  without  the  pale  of  his  doing 
or  her  understanding. 

He  might  have  overtaken  Shibata  and  defeated 
him  of  his  purpose,  but  that  could  do  no  more  than 
add  insult  to  well-meaning,  make  it  still  more  incum 
bent  upon  the  family,  and  Yodogima  in  particular, 
tempered  as  she  was,  to  wipe  out  the  stain  accruing. 

Thus  puzzled  and  overcome,  the  conscious  young 
lover  made  the  necessary  excuses  and  mounting  his 
horse  rode  out  into  the  woods,  keeping  to  bypaths 
and  unfrequented  places,  the  better  to  contemplate 
9  >mc  proper  course  as  well  his  duty.  He  was  dis 
consolate,  and  loitered  slowly  along,  whipping  at  stray 
branches  or  humming  words  of  recent  cheer. 

"Fain  save  your  song,  and  guard  better  the  stroke," 
growled  a  hard-looking  outcast,  hit  and  staring  behind 
the  bush  at  one  side. 

Ordinarily  lyeyasu  should  not  have  minded  the 
thrust,  but  something  in  the  voice,  though  more  the 
manner  of  the  occasion  attracted  him. 

"Come  out,  my  fellow,  or  I  shall  cut  you  down," 


40  YODOGIMA 

threatened  he,  grasping  the  hilt  of  his  sword  and  turn 
ing  upon  the  ruffian,  to  that  one's  very  great  surprise. 

"My  clothes  are  a  warning;  I  am  empty,  and  with 
out  shelter  —  yet  can  serve  you,"  said  the  eta,  step 
ping  forth,  with  a  big  bundle  tied  fast  at  his  back. 

"Ha,  ha;  etas  would  serve  lords,  and  lords,  their 
doom,  in  these  times — how  would  you  set  about 
making  me  happy;  Shibata  is  far  away  by  this  time, 
villain?"  sighed  lyeyasu. 

"Ah-ha-a  —  I  nearly  lost  my  tongue  —  to  do  that 
it  would  be  necessary  for  you  and  me  to  change 
places." 

"For  how  long,  innocent  thing?" 

"Till  Yodogima  rights  us." 

lyeyasu  sprang  to  the  ground;  the  name  of  his 
love  on  such  lips  were  more  than  he  could  bear  with 
out  a  vengeance.  The  occasion  for  such  intelligence 
for  the  moment  unnerved  him,  and  no  sooner  had  he 
raised  sword  to  strike  than  his  fellow  straightened 
up,  removing  a  mask,  whereat  lyeyasu  gasped: 

"Sakuma!" 

"Yes;  it  is  he;  lend  me  your  horse  and  I  shall  do 
you  the  service." 

''Very  well  —  but  the  bundle:  what  about  that?" 

"Oh,  yes;  if  you  like,  you  may  hold  it  till  Shibata 
returns ;  he  shall  want  to  see  it,  and  Hideyoshi  rightly 
trusts  me;  it's  a  good  security." 

lyeyasu  knew  his  man  and  believed  him  true ;  hence 
carefully  closed  the  sack  and  himself  tied  up  the  end 
—  it  seemed  a  gruesome  task,  but  Yodogima  were 


YODOGIMA  41 

worth  any  price  imposed ;  so  he  shouldered  the  bag 
and  once  again  made  his  way  toward  his  friend, 
Maeda's  house,  for  were  his  accomplice  successful  at 
informing  Shibata,  and  could  the  determined  father 
but  see  that  face  once  more,  there  remained  no  doubt 
in  his  mind  as  to  what  the  outcome  should  be. 

Nor  was  Hideyoshi  any  the  less  advised,  or  con 
scious,  or  alert,  as  to  probable  results ;  in  the  absence 
of  lyeyasu  he  had  run  in  upon  Maeda  —  also  his 
friend  —  knocking  hard  upon  the  door  with  his  cut 
lass  and  calling  out : 

"Mataza,   Mataza!"      (Maeda's  given  name.) 

Maeda  welcomed  him,  and  as  they  stood  chatting 
about  an  alliance,  wherefore  especially  the  visitor  had 
called,  lyeyasu  came  trudging  in. 

"What  unsightly  thing  have  you  there,  lyeyasu?" 
inquired  the  host,  withal  reassuringly,  if  somewhat 
suspiciously,  considering  the  identity  of  their  newest 
guest. 

lyeyasu  carefully  set  the  bundle  upon  a  convenient 
bench,  and  would  of  his  own  will,  under  the  circum 
stances,  have  made  short  work  of  Hideyoshi  had  not 
the  offence  been  unpardonable  to  any  host,  much  more 
so  with  Maeda,  whom  they  both  respected  as  well  as 
courted. 

Hideyoshi  appeared  to  be  not  at  all  disturbed, 
though  he  scanned  carefully  the  bag  and  may  have 
remembered  seeing  it  before,  and  as  much  as  fairly 
guessed  its  contents. 

"A  fox,  I  reckon,"  ventured  Hideyoshi,  by  way  of 


42  YODOGIMA 

-    rj=r.;-w-  •  - 

compromise;  "they  are  plentiful  in  these  parts,  so  I 
am  told.  Where  did  you  get  it,  lyeyasu,  and  is  it  a 
whole  one,  or  only  the  head  ?  Come ;  out  with  it,  and 
I'll  stand  sponsor." 

lyeyasu  would  fight,  if  needs  be,  but  could  not  bear 
an  insult,  particularly  at  the  hands  of  this  socalled 
monkey-faced  upstart  —  though  he  had  just  routed 
Shibata  and  now  bade  fair  to  win  over  their  mutual 
friend  Maecla. 

"Come  closer,"  said  lyeyasu,  "if  you  would  really 
know  the  contents  of  this  significant  little  bag;  I  may 
not  soon  again  have  such  pleasure." 

"My  sword,  if  you  like,  lyeyasu." 

"No,  thanks;  you  may  yourself  have  need  to  use  it." 

"Upon  my  word;  you  don't  mean  to  infer  the 
thing's  alive?"  suggested  Maeda,  a  little  nervous. 

"Look,"  demanded  lyeyasu,  apparently  somewhat 
angered. 

"As  I  said ;  but  what  did  you  do  with  its  body ;  I 
see  only  the  face?"  retorted  Hideyoshi. 

"What  is  it,  Maeda?"  inquired  lyeyasu,  a  bit  per 
turbed. 

"A  fox!"  stammered  the  host,  fairly  white  in  the 
face. 

"It's  a  trick,  I'll  promise,"  ventured  lyeyasu,  no 
longer  doubtful  of  Hideyoshi's  motive  —  or  powers. 

"Then  let  us  turn  it  to  some  good  use;  friends 
have  no  better  guarantee  than  constancy ;  I'll  carry  it 
back,  to  where  you  got  it,  and  see  it's  done;  wrangl 
ing  widens  only  the  gulf  it  would  span;  the  circle  is 


YODOGIMA  43 

but  a  square  not  wholly  produced,"  said  Hideyoshi, 
fully  conscious  of  lyeyasu's  master  intention. 

"Silly  twaddle,  for  serious  men,"  muttered  Maeda, 
upon  parting  and  going  each  his  way,  as  solemnly  if 
doubtfully  pledged. 

The  flames  were  yet  raging  when  Hideyoshi  reached 
the  outskirts  of  Kitinoshi ;  Shibata  had  sooner  entered 
the  city,  and  lest  any  part  of  his  treasured  place  should 
escape  expurgation  the  sorely  beaten  and  vainly  tried 
daimyo  began  resolutely  to  apply  the  torch  upon  pass 
ing  the  outer  ramparts,  and  did  not  cease  until  the 
fire  had  spread  in  every  direction.  Inside  the  palace 
all  was  confusion.  His  intimate  friends  had  gathered 
in  a  last  sad  attempt  to  console  a  dying  chieftain. 
I'or  a  lifetime  they  had  served  him  and  his  and  now 
that  the  time  had  come  they  would  do  him  honor  in 
death. 

''It  is  the  will  of  Kami  (God),"  said  he,  "that  I  am 
defeated.  Do  you  serve  me  yet?" 

"Yes,"  they  all  cried,  eagerly. 

"Then  it  is  meet  that  I  do  something  to  show  my 
appreciation  of  such  loyalty.  Let  a  feast  be  spread 
and  the  sake  brought  in  and  music  provided  that  we 
make  merry,  for  to-morrow  we  shall  be  —  dead." 

The  flames  roared  and  raged  without,  and  they 
sang  and  danced  and  composed  until  a  late  hour.  Not 
a  soul  there  would  but  suffer  the  torments  of  hades 
to  quench  the  thirst  for  chivalry  —  they  should  have 
died  a  thousand  times  to  die  an  honorable  death,  to  go 
peacefully  to  rest  in  the  embrace  of  a  master's  rite. 


44  YODOGIMA 

Presently  the  fires  burned  low  on  the  outside,  and 
the  spirit  increased  correspondingly  within;  the  sake 
cup  was  passed  round,  each  taking  his  final  leave. 

"Asai,  my  good  wife,"  inquired  Shibata,  "will  you 
not  go  from  the  castle?  Hideyoshi  will  not  harm 
you,  a  daughter  of  Nobunaga." 

"Why  in  the  flesh,  if  the  spirit  rebels?  I  am  yours 
in  death  as  I  have  been  in  life.  Do  not  turn  me  from 
you:  let  me  die  with  you,"  begged  she,  bowing  low 
down,  on  the  mat  before  him. 

"What  greater  joy  could  heaven  contain?"  re 
sponded  he,  wholly  absorbed. 

Then  a  fox  vainly  leaped  among  them,  and  Shi 
bata  stared  hard  past  Yodogima  —  a  head  stood 
perched  upon  a  faggot  at  her  back. 

"Cannot  you  see  them?  Two  —  one  on  either  side, 
reaching  farther  than  Fuchu  —  Sakuma  weeps :  Kat- 
sutoya  laughs  —  Yodogima !" 

"Yes,  father." 

"Do  you  not  —  help  me?" 

"I  had  thought  to  let  —  but  some  strange  thing 
seems  to  possess  us." 

"\Vhat  is  it,  daughter?" 

Yodogima  hesitated. 

"You  have  eyes?"  suggested  he. 

Her  heart  throbbed  painfully. 

"You  would  not  deny  me?"  plead  her  father. 

The  blood  rushed  into  her  face;  and  Katsutoya 
laughed  outright:  Shibata  tremblingly  urged: 

"Speak,  daughter." 


YODOGIMA  45 

The  one  pleading,  the  other  taunting,  drove  hard  the 
will,  yet  thought  rebelled,  and  Yodogima's  face  turned 
rigid.  Peace  had  been  his  and  faithfulness  her  own 
had  not  this,  the  bitterest  test  of  living,  come  at  last 
to  stay  the  hand  of  death.  She  might  have  evaded 
him,  but  the  very  thing  she  sought  forbade  it.  He 
must  dishonor  her  were  the  truth  known.  She  had 
sinned,  and  tradition  proffered  not  repentance.  What 
was  it,  then,  that  moved  Yodogima  to  answer  as  she 
did?  Some  subtle  influence  had  wrought  her  father's 
decline;  they  were  then  contemplating  together  the 
virtue  of  an  only  salvation,  and  —  Yodogima,  too, 
saw  a  face :  it  beckoned :  she  answered : 

"lyeyasu !" 

"He?  The  maker  of  our  destiny?"  demanded 
Shibata. 

"Yes.     My  lover." 

"How  so,  Yodogima;  you  had  not  mentioned  this?" 

"You  denied  me  the  privilege  —  as  you  imagine  me 
now." 

"Ah,  ha  —  you  would  mock  really  a  parent  ?  Then 
go  from  me ;  and  learn  what  it  is  to  desecrate  the 
gods.  And  that  you  may  drink  to  the  dregs,  I  send 
your  two  sisters  along  to  do  you  service  thereat.  No 
daughter  of  mine  shall  disgrace  me  in  death  —  be 
gone!" 

The  fires  were  then  lighted  in  the  rooms  all  around 
them.  Shibata  and  Asai,  his  wife  and  only  hope, 
withdrew  into  an  inner  chamber.  The  floors  had  been 


46  YODOGIMA 

covered  with  straw,  and  the  flames  leaped  up  — Yodo- 
gima  turned  to  go,  and  two  faces,  one  hideous,  the 
other  smiling,  greeted  her. 

A   cross   and   an    image   bore   they  —  thence   duty 
called  her ;  the  purpose  stood  revealed. 


YODOGIMA  47 


CHAPTER   VI 

WITH  her  eyes  thus  opened,  mysticism  disap 
peared  :  the  elements  crackled,  and  out  of 
consciousness  th^re  arose  a  determination  to  survive 
any  test  that  might  be  imposed.  All  her  tender  life 
had  been  surrendered  faithfully  and  uncompromis 
ingly  to  the  harsher  edicts  of  conventional  man ;  and 
stern  realism  had  bidden  her  renounce  every  impulse ; 
there  had  seemed  no  alternative  to  save  honor  —  the 
gods  demanded  it,  the  family  claimed  it,  and  self  had 
not  dared  deny  death  its  sole  reward. 

Then,  as  womanhood  arrived,  barely  kissed  fain 
consciousness,  in  one  stolen  rapport,  just  an  un 
guarded  moment,  the  godlight  once  shone  in,  had 
seized  upon  her,  made  it  seem  as  if  there  was  a 
heaven,  as  if  God  himself  had  touched  her  very  soul 
and  the  blessed  come  to  earth  —  a  little  thing  as 
insignificant  as  any  worm  or  bird  or  animal,  only  a 
fox,  had  come  between  her  and  what  she  might  have 
had  for  the  taking;  and  that,  too,  without  disturbing 
as  she  believed  her  father's  plans  in  the  least  or  suf 
fering  the  pain  of  being  left  in  the  world  to  do 
penance  for  a  thing  that  she  knew  to  be  wholly  beyond 
the  reach  or  concern  of  her  own  insignificant  little 
self. 

Vodogima  had  been  cast  out,  degraded,  and  left  to 
makeshift,  but  not  defeated.  In  that  one  moment  of 


48  YODOGIMA 

utter  helplessness  she  had  resolved  to  meet  the  world 
as  found,  and  to  make  of  life  what  God  intended  — 
an  abiding  faith  in  that  we  know  and  not  a  conjured 
reach  toward  something  fancied. 

lyeyasu  had  promised  her  protection  —  his  love  he 
had  given  her  —  and  she  believed  him  capable  and' 
true;  that  she  had  renounced  Katsutoya  and  accepted 
lyeyasu  rightly,  though  against  every  obligation  that 
she  knew  developments  had  proven  beyond  perad- 
venture.  Her  father  had  anticipated  an  impossibility, 
asked  her  to  stultify  every  moral  consideration  on  her 
part  to  gratify  an  ambition  of  his,  that  proved  at  the 
first  test  to  be  utterly  groundless  and  without  the 
shadow  of  a  compensating  hope.  Accident  or  will 
had  denied  her  the  privilege  of  an  explanation;  fate 
alone,  for  all  she  knew,  had  interposed  to  lay  bare 
the  secret  of  her  heart  at  an  inopportune  moment, 
and  a  fancied  code  had  sought  to  crush  her  beneath 
its  ruthless  dictum  at  a  time  when  the  very  heart- 
chords  of  repentance  called  loudest  for  pleasing  atone 
ment. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  same  god  who  had  torn  her 
therefrom  must  save  her  unto  himself ;  and  her  heart 
bled  for  him  alone. 

"lyeyasu,"  cried  she,  more  confident  than  ever. 

Her  voice  seemed  to  die  close  underneath  the  angry 
elements;  but  quickly  —  all  this  had  crowded  upon 
her  instantly  —  strong  arms,  others  than  she  had  al 
lowed,  gathered  her  up,  together  with  her  two  sisters, 
younger  than  she,  and  placing  them  in  chairs  made 


YODOGIM  \ 


49 


their  way  through  the  charred,  falling  remnants  of  all 
that  had  been  so  dear  to  her,  toward  the  woodland, 
not  far  distant,  to  the  southward. 

The  glare  of  the  lights  and  the  lamentations  of  the 
populace  startled  her,  and  she  would  have  turned  if 
only  in  some  small  way  to  their  relief,  but  the  bettos 
(carriers)  ran  on,  heeding  neither  her  pleadings  nor 
their  own  safety  so  long  as  they  might  serve  —  their 
employer,  Sakuma,  who  led  the  way. 

They  had  gone  some  distance  and  almost  beyond 
danger  from  the  burning  city  before  Yodogima  had 
discovered  him  or  knew  who  it  was  that  planned  and 
directed  her  flight.  It  gave  her  confidence,  and  she 
did  not  call  out  lest  her  interference  might  disturb 
him ;  nor  did  she  fear  thereafter  the  course  they  took, 
though  it  seemed  a  strange  direction  and  an  ominous 
exit  —  there  was  one,  lurking  behind,  however,  fol 
lowing  their  every  movement,  dodging  from  corner  to 
corner  and  street  to  street,  who  knew  better  than  she 
just  what  to  expect  and  where  to  intercept  them. 

All  these  doings  were  as  a  blank  to  Yodogima. 
whose  only  thought  now  was  of  lyeyasu.  That  soon 
she  should  reach  him,  was  at  that  very  moment  on  her 
way  thither,  and  that  he,  strong  and  virile,  should 
make  due  atonement  for  this,  that  she  had  suffered, 
would  forthwith  claim  her  as  his  own,  and  after  all 
make  life  worth  the  living  was  the  sole  consciousness 
that  bore  her  onward.  Duplicity,  with  its  cold,  futile 
aims,  as  barren  |n  the  end  as  lyeyasu's  waiting  might 


50  YODOGIMA 

prove  disastrous,  were  a  thing  wholly  beyond  her 
knowledge  or  comprehension. 

They  had  not  gone  far  into  the  woods,  however, 
till  the  confiding  princess  had  good  reason  to  witness, 
if  not  apprehend,  something  of  the  clashing  motives 
that  underlay  her  further  progress.  Sakuma  had  led 
them  to  the  right,  toward  the  thick  of  the  forest,  and 
Yodogima's  pulse  then  began  to  slacken  and  her 
throat  filled  and  choked  her ;  she  knew  that  lyeyasu's 
domain  lay  to  the  left,  over  the  mountains,  through 
Mino,  in  the  southward,  and  supposed  him  there,  as 
reason  would  dictate.  They  were  now  travelling 
northerly,  into  the  west,  where  Hideyoshi  might  be 
expected  to  be  found  scouting  or  encamped :  it  grew 
dark  and  difficult  of  going:  Yodogima  wondered  and 
conjectured,  till  fear  seized  hard  upon  her. 

Presently  the  bettos  halted,  and  resting  the  poles 
upon  their  staffs  breathed  heavily,  the  while  specu 
lating  among  themselves  as  •  to  their  further  task. 
These  fellows,  then,  did  not  know  where  they  were 
to  go,  and  the  probabilities  multiplied  in  Yodogima's 
mind. 

Sakuma  had  gone  on,  into  the  dark,  as  if  in  search 
of  an  outlet;  then  a  sudden  whipping  and  snapping 
of  twigs,  at  one  side,  distinctly  heard  only  by  Yodo 
gima,  apprised  her  of  the  swift  running  of  someone, 
apparently  past  them  and  after  Sakuma.  Directly  a 
low  gurgling,  and  hard  thud  upon  the  ground  startled 
her  once  more  into  bare  apprehension. 

Yodogima   uttered   not   a   word,  but   listened;   the 


YODOGLM  A  51 

bettos  talked  on ;  no  other  sound  reached  her  ears ; 
then  the  brush  rattled,  and  it  occurred  to  her  that 
somebody's  clothing  had  been  changed ;  she  waited ; 
a  man  tramped  along,  not  close  enough  to  be  scruti 
nized,  but  within  hearing  distance  —  whose  outline 
appeared  a  trifle  taller  than  Sakuma  —  till  directly 
opposite,  when  he  commanded  the  bettos  to  change 
their  course  and  follow  him. 


YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  VII 

THEY  had  gone  back  into  the  open,  turning  again 
toward  a  course  to  the  southward;  bearing  a 
little  to  the  west,  along  the  well-travelled  roadway 
that  led  directly  into  the  main  pass  over  the  moun 
tains  through  Mino,  for  Mikawa,  lyeyasu's  domain ; 
where  stood  Okazaki  castle,  his  birthplace  and  inher 
ited  fortress.  To  this  place,  enchanted  as  it  now 
seemed  to  her,  Yodogima  would  have  gone  a  willing 
slave  to  its  master's  caprice  and  otherwise  still  a  de 
voted  helpmeet  in  the  rendering  of  an  established 
and  expansive,  if  cruelly  submissive  order. 

It  was  yet  dark,  but  the  bettos  pattered  along  at  a 
lively  gait;  a  trifling  advance  promised  in  their  wage 
had  allayed  any  misgivings  that  they  might  have  had 
as  to  a  possible  change  of  leaders;  and  glad,  more 
over,  of  the  less  burdensome  or  hazardous  going  now 
confronting  them,  their  progress  became  as  rapid  as 
the  escape  seemed  propitious. 

The  way  lay  through  a  richly  cultivated  and  thickly 
inhabited  valley,  bespeaking  a  prosperous  and  friendly 
environment.  Yet  it  was  dark,  and  these  things  were 
not  discernible  —  no  lingering  light  shone  forth,  nor 
belated  dweller  accidentally  peered  —  save  for  an 
occasional  howling  round  some  dismal  corner,  or  the 
hard,  smooth-worn  curbstone's  welcome  reply.  Yodo 
gima  leaned  restfully  back  in  the  chair;  Jokoin,  her 


YODOC.IMA  53 

youngest  sister,  yet  innocent  and  fair,  had  gone  to 
sleep,  contentedly:  only  Esyo,  next  older,  with  cold, 
penetrating  look,  and  rigid,  exacting  manner,  sat  up 
right,  wrangling  with  this  one  or  that  the  probable 
outcome  of  such  daring  do. 

"You  are  a  winsome,  headstrong  thing,"  threatened 
she,  of  Yodogima,  as  their  chairs  came  close  together, 
in  a  broadened  stretch  of  road,  where  the  bettos  were 
wont  to  gossip  in  venturesome  consultation  about  a 
possible  rest.  "Only  for  you,  I  might  have  been  per 
mitted  —  as  any  true  daughter  should  be  —  a  more 
logical,  if  not  less  unbecoming,  situation.  Here  it  is, 
dead  of  night ;  and  Shibata,  a  lord  daimyo's  whole 
bevy  most  uncomfortably  trudging  through  goodness 
knows  what;  and  all  to  no  purpose,  I  am  sure." 

"Be  quiet,  Esyo,"  commanded  Yodogima,  not  the 
least  bit  impatient;  "you  shall  soon  enough  find  it 
convenient,  if  not  agreeable,  to  discuss  till  content 
some  of  the  urgencies :  the  proprieties  had  best  take 
care  of  themselves  —  for  the  present,  it  would  ap 
pear,  to  your  faithful,  if  unworthy,  sister." 

"Who  said  that  you  are  unworthy?  Come,  Yodo 
gima;  don't  be  unreasonable." 

"Please  do  not  get  excited." 

"I  am  not  excited,  I  tell  you ;  and  had  you  my 
temper  you  should  not  have  fallen  in  love  with  that 
lyeyasu;  nor  would  you  have  so  forgotten  yourself 
as  to  wholly  disregard  better  discretion  by  clinging  to 
him  —  why  didn't  you  tell  father  it  was  a  myth,  the 


54  YODOGIMA 

face  a  mysticism,  and  his  decision  most  unreasonably 
mystifying  —  " 

"Oh,  sister :  how  you  talk ;  in  that  case  you  shouldn't 
have  been  here,  or  anywhere;  and,  lyeyasu  is  very 
real." 

"Quite  like  all  the  rest :  a  pack  of  them  —  all  of 
them,  every  one  like  the  other." 

''And  I  am  not  so  sure  but  Esyo,  herself,  might 
prove  to  be  the  best  quarry  among  us :  take  care  that 
you  do  not  give  me  further  cause,  to  suspect  as  much ; 
more  I  dare  not." 

They  had  travelled  a  long  time,  it  seemed  months 
to  Yodogima,  when,  without  warning,  in  the  dawn 
ing  light,  their  leader,  with  uncovered  face,  thrust  his 
head  into  Yodogima's  presence,  cautioning  her : 

"Trust  me,  Yodogima ;  I  have  given  proper  instruc 
tions  to  the  bettos ;  I  must  now  leave  you." 

Yodogima  drew  back  with  alarm,  too  frightened  to 
make  answer  or  to  comprehend  him;  it  was  Katsu- 
toya  she  recognized. 

Thus  leaving  his  charge  to  fare  as  best  they  might, 
under  the  instructions  given,  Katsutoya  sped  on,  into 
the  distance,  purposing  to  reach  and  advise  lyeyasu 
if  possible  of  what  he  had  done  toward  saving  Yodo 
gima  from  the  clutches  of  Hideyoshi ;  who  in  parting 
with  lyeyasu  had  done  as  promised :  returned  the 
bundle  to  where  lyeyasu  had  found  it.  Sakuma, 
however,  did  not  reappear  as  expected;  instead  there 
came  another,  also  disguised ;  and  equally  taken  aback, 
as  well  as  penetrating,  both  Hideyoshi  and  Katsutoya 


YODOGIMA  55 

for  once  blundered  expediency  to  gain  some  sort  of 
intended  advantage. 

Katsutoya,  therefore,  and  not  Sakunia,  had  saved 
the  princess,  and  with  all  his  energies  now  sought  to 
advise  Iveyasu,  in  whose  service  he  believed  he  would 
fare  safer  and  welcome.  It  proved  to  be  a  long  and 
a  hard  run  to  Fuchu,  where  lyeyasu  yet  remained, 
waiting.  Squads  of  Hideyoshi's  troops  and  scouts 
already  infested  the  country,  and  the  by-ways  and 
brush-covered  hills  proved  hard  of  traversing,  yet 
Katsutoya  faithfully  and  hopefully  pressed  on,  reach 
ing  his  destination  exhausted  and  sore. 

"What  brings  you  here,  and  at  this  time?"  inquired 
lyeyasu,  coldly ;  when  confronted  by  the  messenger, 
eager  and  positive. 

'*!  would  do  you  a  service,  though  I  am  but  an  out 
cast,  as  you  see,"  replied  Katsutoya,  earnestly. 

"As  others  have  done  —  more  discreetly.  Go.  I 
have  no  confidence  in  pretence.  lyeyasu  shall,  here 
after,  select  his  own  assistants.  Sakunia.  at  U-a-t. 
taught  me  a  lesson." 

"And  Katsutoya  shall  teach  you  a  better  one, 
though  you  do  refuse  me.  Hideyoshi  shall  have 
hunted  out  and  claimed  your  Yodogima  long  before 
lyeyasu  has  made  up  his  mind  to.  do  more  than  wait. 
And  to  show  you  that  Katsutoya  is  your  friend  and 
not  a  rival,  as  you  have  it,  I  lend  y>u  my  disguise, 
that  you  may  find  a  way  home;  there  to  pander  t<» 
jealousy  and  defend  your  life.  Greatness  lies  rather 
in  aggressiveness.  Good-day,  sir." 


56  YODOGIMA 

So  saying,  Katsutoya  disappeared,  before  the  aston 
ished  lyeyasu  had  fairly  recovered  his  breath.  Those 
words,  however,  burned  deeply  into  his  consciousness, 
and  he  would  have  run  after  his  supposed  rival  had 
he  dared  venture,  undisguised,  beyond  the  confines 
of  his  friend  Maeda's  protection. 

lyeyasu  knew  only  too  well  that  he  had  been  tricked 
by  Hideyoshi ;  that  his  recent  bravado  and  promised 
alliance  had  been  feigned  for  immediate  effect ;  that 
his  troops  were  at  that  very  moment  scouring  the 
country,  he  himself  fully  believed  without  even  a 
suggestion  from  Katsutoya  or  anyone  else;  that  his 
own  neck  were  in  danger  he  was  wholly  aware  — 
from  political  motives,  however,  and  not  as  a  result 
of  any  clashing  of  love  interests;  in  his  dull  mind, 
Hicleyoshi  had  no  more  thought  of  taking  a  defeated 
daimyo's  daughter  to  himself  than  Katsutoya  had  of 
befriending  a  successful  rival.  His  household  seemed 
already  full  enough. 

"Hideyoshi  in  love,  and  a  wife  and  some  three 
hundred,  now?  Bosh!"  muttered  he,  to  himself, 
though  donning  the  disguise  and  preparing  for  flight. 
"Thanks,  however,  to  Hideyoshi's  cleverness,  we 
shall  see  no  more  of  Katsutoya,  vain  wretch  —  Yodo- 
gima  is  still  alive;  he  just  as  well  as  said  so,  and  the 
gods  shall  see  that  lyeyasu  gets  his  due.  I  can  wait, 
yet  go  I  must." 

lyeyasu  set  out  unattended  and  forlorn;  while  the 
bettos  were  landing  Yodogima,  hopeful  if  not  happy, 
at  an  appointed  tea-house  in  the  rugged  mountains 


YODOGIMA  57 

capping  an  upper  arm  of  the  valley  through  which 
they  had  climbed.  Here,  Katsutoya  had  directed  her 
to  remain ;  it  was  secluded,  and  not  far  distant  from 
the  main  highway  over  which  her  lover  must  make 
his  exit,  through  the  otherwise  almost  impassable 
range. 

It  had  grown  warmer  with  the  rising  sun  and  a 
sheltered  environment,  yet  Yodogima  waxed  the  more 
eager  and  became  less  tolerant.  She  knew  the  locality 
well  enough,  but  somehow  could  not  bring  herself  to 
believe  Katsutoya  bent  upon  anything  but  downright 
betrayal.  They  were  sitting  in  the  open,  at  the  rear 
of  a  large  room,  on  the  second  floor,  overlooking 
a  deep  gorge  below  and  the  broad  valley  farther  on 
in  the  distance.  Jokoin  chafed  under  the  restraint, 
and  Esyo  scolded. 

"I  can  see  no  harm  in  going  below,  and  into  a 
public  room  —  we  are  daughters  of  Shibata,  and  there 
is  a  man  down  there;  I  hear  his  voice." 

"Jokoin!  What  is  to  be  done  with  you?  We  are 
alone,  and  outcasts  -  "  began  Esyo,  half  intended  for 
Yodogima. 

"The  more  the  need  of  cultivating  someone's  friend 
ship,"  retorted  Jokoin. 

"But  we  have  no  means  of  an  introduction,  ami 
do  not  know  that  it  is  a  gentleman." 

"Let  us  forget  form:  I  hear  a  sword  rattling." 

Yodogima  made  neither  protest  nor  comment ;  she 
was  content  to  let  Esyo  wrestle  it  out  with  Jokoin, 
whose  good  sense  she  believed  quite  the  better  of  her 


58  YODOGIMA 

indiscretion.  Therefore,  when  Jokoin  finally  led  down 
the  stairs,  with  Esyo  close  after,  their  eldest  sister, 
sitting  back  upon  the  soft-matted  floor,  turned  her 
thoughts  far  away,  and  to  things  beyond  the  staid 
comprehension  of  the  one  or  above  the  emotional 
reach  of  the  other. 

All  these  things  around  her,  men  and  women  had 
called  real ;  but  to  her  they  seemed  very  unreal.  She 
had  been  brought  into  the  world  and  set  down  among 
them  without  a  voice  or  a  hand  in  the  making.  Reality, 
this?  Far  from  it.  Why,  the  very  food  they  ate 
was  not  what  it  seemed,  the  roof  overhead  but  a 
creation,  and  for  all  she  knew  her  own  clothing  might 
be  the  merest  makeshift  as  against  a  real,  a  truly  pene 
trating  eye.  These,  then,  were  but  resulting  products, 
and  of  what?  Ideality? 

Her  own  soul  cried  aloud  for  something  better, 
purer,  and  more  certain  than  all  these  sordid  trap 
pings  of  man's  little  endeavor.  There  must  be  an 
ethereal,  a  state  transfixed  —  of  earth,  but  infinite  — 
and  could  she  only  resolve  its  quantity  the  elements 
had  afforded  a  way ;  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  stars,  the 
earth  and  all  that  there  is  upon  it  were  but  the  atoms 
of  an  endless  progression,  fixed  and  apportioned  by 
the  same  compelling,  abiding  agency  that  had  touched 
her  and  bound  her  when  confronted  with  a  natural 
and  unhindered  attraction. 

The  mountain-top  hung  high  above:  she  wanted  to 
get  there,  to  some  place  far  away  from  vulgar  wit 
nessing,  and  there  seek  communion  with  the  spirit 


YODOGIMA  59 

that  seemed  >o  near  yet  nowhere  within  reach.  Man 
had  brought  forth  nothing  not  deceptive,  failed  utterly 
of  conception  —  a  province  wholly  within  the  gra>p 
of  woman,  the  more  her  reason. 

Having  at  last  resolved  to  press  the  quest  alone 
and  untrammelled,  Yodogima  ran  out  and  along  the 
narrow  veranda  to  the  long,  smooth-worn  steps  that 
wound  up  and  around  the  mountain-side  to  its  sum 
mit  in  the  background.  The  climb  was  not  a  hard 
one,  and  as  she  went  she  remarked  the  usefiiliu-> - 
to  which  the  hand  of  man  really  had  been  put.  Yet 
there  seemed  a  want  of  guidance,  and  upon  arriving 
at  a  deserted  temple  the  poverty  of  his  understanding 
became  the  more  painfully  apparent. 

History  recorded  ages  and  cycles  of  crowding  and 
striving  and  yet  how  much  had  been  done  to  show  that 
anything  more  than  nature  had  inhabited  this  eartli  .J 
A  few  houses,  here  ami  there  a  crooked,  stumbling 
highway,  now  and  then  a  ship  at  sea,  all  temporary, 
and  so  little  of  beauty !  Really  it  seemed  a  pity  that 
so  much  good  rich  blood  and  vain  high  sounding 
words  had  been  expended  upon  nothing  more  than 
barely  living:  then,  approaching  the  summit,  nearer 
and  nearer,  his  track  or  touch  began  to  disappear, 
presently  became  extinct,  and  no  such  delight  had 
entered  her  heart,  save  once  before.  Heaven,  limit 
less  and  real,  encouraging  the  utmost  within  her, 
seemed  a  thing  of  consequence;  and  the  earth  reced 
ing  and  vanishing  and  lost,  with  its  humdrum  and 
vanity  but  an  atom  engulfed,  were  as  if  a  memory  — 


60  YODOGIMA 

disappearing  and  forgotten  over  against  the  invisible 
grind  of  a  moulten,  seething  yesterday. 

Sitting  down  upon  a  clean-washed,  sun-dried  and 
nature-fashioned  rock,  there  waiting  —  no  vulgar 
thing  or  mad  intellect  had  touched  it  —  Yodogima 
looked  all  around,  then  fastened  her  eyes  upon  a 
blushing  bluebell  that  tenderly  upturned  its  sweet 
ened  lips  in  token  of  the  message  she  sought.  A 
cuckoo  flew  also  there,  perching  itself  in  defiance: 
Yodogima  whispered: 

"Sing  to  me." 

The  bird  listed  mute  and  wanting. 

"I'll  help  the  cuckoo  to  sing,"  replied  she,  vouch 
safing  to  waft  her  melodies  on  the  light,  over-sound 
ing  air. 

The  little  thing  answered  her,  only  as  it  could  — 
but  out  of  its  song  there  arose  the  voice  of  — 

The  bush  rattled  at  her  back,  and  springing  to  her 
feet,  and  turning  quickly  round,  Yodogima  shrieked : 

"Hideyoshi!" 


YODOGIMA  61 


CHAPTED  VIII 

4  4  TT  ES ;  it  is  he  —  and  you  need  not  start  at  my 
*  presence.  I  hear  that  I  am,  by  some,  called 
vulgar ;  by  many,  said  to  be  cruel ;  I  know  only  that  1 
am  human :  that  the  touch  of  your  garment  would 
rouse  in  ordinary  man  a  passion  fiercer  than  the 
flames :  that  I  myself  would  make  you  queen ;  yet 
you  are  as  safe  from  harm  in  my  possession  as  he  — 
the  man  you  just  now  fancied  more  than  manly  —  is 
impotent  to  render  in  the  least  a  real  consolation  or 
a  substantial  aid.  That  you  may  realize  fully  that  I 
am  true  and  not  false,  I  tender  you  the  only  instru 
ment  that  ever  made  or  unmade  god  or  man.  Do 
with  it  and  with  me  as  you  like;  you  are  both  strong 
of  arm  and  quick  to  see,"  urged  Hideyoshi,  approach 
ing  and  tendering  with  much  reverence  the  hilt  of  his 
unsheathed,  if  vain,  resolver  of  ethics. 

Yodogima  frowned.  All  the  womanhood  within  her 
revolted  at  such  boasted  display  of  wanton  cowardice. 
That  man  never  is  right  till  might  has  made  him  so, 
she  could  well  believe ;  that  might  is  right  in  the  eyes 
of  the  gods  were  as  incomprehensible  to  her  as  it 
seemed  satisfying  to  him. 

''Look  me  in  the  face,"  demanded  she,  without  lift 
ing  a  foot. 

Hideyoshi  colored,  and  bowed  only  the  lower:  his 
eyes  shifted  about  reluctantly,  and  useless. 


62  YODOGIMA 

''Shame !"  threatened  she,  advancing  a   step. 

"I  am  advised  of  no  better  means  than  —  "  began 
Hideyoshi,  cold  with  suspense. 

"A  bluff?  How  often  have  you  practiced  this  sort 
of  ennui  upon  others,  perhaps  more  tolerant?  I 
would  set  a  better  example,"  interposed  Yodogima, 
snapping  his  weapon  against  the  ground  and  casting 
the  fragments  away. 

"Well  done,"  promised  he,  recovering  somewhat 
his  composure.  ''But  haven't  you  oversaid  yourself, 
a  bit?  The  tables  turned,  however,  may  be  more 
becoming;  I  can  prove  my  valor:  a  broken  heart  is 
less  easily  mended.  I  need  not  suggest,  of  course, 
that  you  yourself  might  name  —  the  terms?" 

"No,  no,"  gasped  Yodogima,  as  the  possible  fate  of 
lyeyasu  flashed  into  mind. 

"Then  it  is  really  quite  unnecessary  to  arrange  it  — 
yet  I  had  sooner  meet  a  worthy  man  than  fall  begging 
of  a  pretty  woman.  Come;  I  shall  take  you  whether 
you  will  or  not,  with  or  without  the  means,  before  or 
after  the  test,  temptation  or  provocation.  Let  us  be 
off,  to  Azuchi,  where  the  muses  hold  their  tongues 
and  order  wins  fairly  the  heart." 

"Captivity  implies  compulsion  —  in  some  instances  ; 
but  our  lord's  behavior  convinces  me  that  I  might 
have  fallen  into  less  —  considerate  hands." 

Hideyoshi  led  the  way  down  along  the  winding 
incline  and  back  into  the  very  place  which  she  had 
but  a  short  hour  thence  deserted;  in  a  more  hopeful, 
if  less  certain,  mood.  The  same  walls  enclosed  the 


YODOGIMA  63 

front  and  sides,  the  outlet  at  the  rear  had  not  changed 
at  all;  humanity  seemed  continuing  its  blind  rush 
toward  an  ideal  bolstered  with  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand  conjured  notions:  the  breath  of  ages 
smelled  as  sweet  and  wholesome  as  it  did  before  she 
had  quitted  there  and  gone  to  the  mountain's  crest : 
her  heart  beat  as  warmly  for  her  own  chosen  lord  as 
ever;  but  something  within,  a  silent  mover  of  the 
senses  and  regulator  of  the  mind,  told  her  that  were 
that  love  to  ripen  and  shed  its  fruit  something  better 
than  waiting  and  a  thing  more  potent  than  might  must 
intervene  to  stay  the  hand  of  probability  —  and  to 
gether  with  consciousness  came  the  sting. 

Then  the  will  arose,  calling  loudly  upon  the  often 
fickle,  but  now  most  worthy,  God  of  Constancy  to  lead 
her  truly  and  deliver  her  aright  unto  the  man  she  be 
lieved  incapable  of  design;  much  more,  fully  compe 
tent  to  make  the  rescue. 

"I  do  love  you  —  I  know  it  now  —  O  lyeyasu  — 
my  love,  my  faith,  my  hope." 

The  men  and  trappings  rattled  and  tramped  on  the 
outside;  preparations  were  making  for  the  march,  and 
Ilideyoshi  now  more  than  ever  scolded  the  lines  and 
spruced  his  bearing.  The  fortunes  of  war  had  made 
him  master  of  central  Japan,  had  given  him  the  capi 
tal  and  placed  him  in  possession  of  the  emperor,  but 
the  wiles  of  a  woman  taxed  more  heavily  his  energies 

Whether  to  overawe  with  guards  and  poltroonery 
or  to  encourage  by  liberties  granted  and  confidences 
bestowed,  were  to  him,  now,  under  the  circumstances, 


64  YODOGIMA 

and  in  this  case,  quite  as  vital  a  matter  as  had  been  in 
ordinary  times  the  choice  between  tweedledee  and 
tweedledum. 

The  princess,  herself,  had  made  light  of  his  own 
puerile  methods;  he  had  purposely  refrained  from 
demanding,  as  was  the  custom,  the  head  of  his  old- 
time  rival,  Shibata,  her  father,  solely  in  the  hope  of 
soothing  and  inspiring  her:  had  he  failed  also  in  that? 
lyeyasu  had  been  allowed  to  escape,  that  terror  should 
not  drive  his  coveted  love  to  a  last  extremity;  but 
seemingly  all  his  plans  had  miscarried,  placing  him 
now  at  the  brink  of  a  still  more  vital  blunder  —  and 
win  he  would :  if  unfairly,  none  the  less  manly,  for 
that. 

Her  two  sisters  had  disappeared  —  Takiyama  had 
laid  siege  to  the  one,  and  the  other  scolded  the  way 
along  to  keep  her  company  and  see  that  Hideyoshi's 
second  best  general  proved  a  diligent  escort. 

The  roads  were  smooth,  withal  their  crookedness 
and  the  rugged  aspect  of  the  country  through  which 
they  entered  to  pass.  An  occasional  rabbit  jumped 
away,  into  the  thicket,  none  the  wiser  for  a  strange, 
harmless  fright,  and  Yodogima  marvelled  the  dex- 
trousness  of  his  small  endeavor.  Could  she  likewise 
defeat  or  escape  harm  ?  No ;  civilization  had  reduced 
her  to  less  agile  and  more  hardened  methods.  And 
for  what?  They  had  gone  into  a  thickened  cluster 
of  stragglingly  growing  pines  with  drooping,  needle- 
laden  branches  and  no  dry  leaves  or  fallen  limbs  to 
rattle  and  crackle  underneath.  It  was  now  getting 


YODOGTMA  05 

dark  again,  and  tin-  probability--,  of  th<-  occasion 
•  ;in  '••!  her  to  p<-»T  and  li  .im  with  more  tli;m  ordinary 
air-  id  .  v»-l  no  pook  had  '  61  "'ii  '-'I  in  li'-i  10  much 
as  a  possible  thought. 

'('Ii'-  ad.  an-  e  li.-i'l  gone  "ii,  rapidly,  and  were  by  this 
til  ••  far  in  tli<-  lead  Ilid'-yo  lii  lia'l  remained  well 
behind,  bringing  up  the  rear  ;<nd  l-'-'-pin^  the  whole 
under  olr -.frrvatiou  with  ;•  ,  little  inconvenience  or 
•'  lil-^-ly  ;  M  h«  vra  wont  to  do  under  all  cir- 
;nj/l  in  nnir  h  l»-ss  trying  situations  than 
this,  the  prou'lr-.t.  honi<-'onini^  in  his  hard,  eventful 
career.  That  part  of  the  cavalcade  in  which  Yodo- 
;Mina\  <h;,ir  r  on  .tiint* 'i  thr-  principal  charge  had 
Mtf  out  along  th'  tead  in  single  file,  and  as 

then-  -f-mirrd  no  po •.  .il;l»-  'h;m'c  for  »•  ,<  ;ip*-  in  f-ithr-r 
the  guards  sang  their  way  along  in  front  or 
h'-hind  in  contemplation  of  the  uncertainties 
for^  h;.'lo.  ing  a  visit  with  their  mothers  or  sweet- 
h<  -arts  at  home. 

Directly  they  had  n -arhrd  the  darkest  place,  round 
ing  a  sharp  curve,  the  prin"--  leaned  forward,  star 
ing  vacantly  into  an  ominous  opening,  covered  and 
narrow,  through  the  limh  and  brush,  at  the  lo 

of  the  roadway.  The  same  bettos  that  rescued 
her  from  the  Conflagration  at  Kitanoshi  had  been  at 
her  especial  solicitation  grudgingly  retained  for  her 
further  use  upon  this  particular  part  of  the  renewed 
journey.  They  knew  full  well  the  reason  —  Yodo- 
gima  lid  '  ar'-fully  down  from  the  chair  and  as  cau- 


66  YODOGIMA 

tiously  entered  the  gloomy  place  on  which  her  eyes 
had  all  but  riveted. 

" Yodogima  ?"  whispered  a  voice,  that  quickly  set 
at  rest  her  anxiously  pulsating  self,  as  to  what  it  was 
and  who  it  were  so  subtlely  attracting  her  attention. 

"Yes,  lyeyasu  —  but  you  must  not  be  discovered 
here.  Let  me  go,  and  save  yourself.  The  escape 
you  propose  would  ill  afford  either  of  us  the  relief 
sought." 

"Can  you  trust  me,  Yodogima?" 

"I  do." 

"Then  go ;  and,  depend  upon  it,  I  shall  recover  you ; 
your  good  sense  convinces  me  of  an  abiding  sincerity." 

lyeyasu  again  slunk  off  into  the  wilderness,  and 
Yodogima,  his  love  pledged  anew,  softly  climbed 
back  into  the  chair,  without  so  much  as  attracting  a 
concerned  witness.  To  constancy  there  had  been 
added  assurance,  and  thence  the  heart  waxed  light 
and  the  mind  clear  —  the  will  had  sooner  halted  at  no 
bounds. 

"He  shall  have  me,  and  I  will  know  no  other ;  poor, 
weak,  insignificant  woman  that  I  am,"  resolved  she, 
as  the  bettos  at  first  slowly,  then  more  rapidly, 
stretched  forward  to  recover  the  small  ground  lost. 

At  Azuchi,  to  Yodogima's  surprise  —  agreeable  as 
it  was  —  and  Hideyoshi's  chagrin,  there  developed  at 
once  much  confusion  and  not  a  little  bickering.  Most 
of  the  three  hundred  or  thereabout  female  court  and 
household  attendants  already  there  took  the.  matter 
of  an  additional  three,  though  respectively  young  and 


YODOG1MA  67 

knowing  and  pretty,  with  something  of  indifference; 
arrayed  against  curiosity,  of  course;  but  there  hap 
pened  to  be  one  among  them,  the  lord  daimyo's  law 
ful  wife  and  always  best  helpmeet,  Oyea,  who  looked 
upon  the  introduction  of  three  such  princesses  — 
whose  character  and  former  standing  she  had  had, 
already,  abundant  opportunity  as  well  as  occasion  to 
know  and  understand  —  with  something  more  than 
ordinary  concern  if  not  outright  suspicion. 

This  Oyea  happened  to  be,  as  she  herself  well 
knew,  the  second  wife  of  the  rapidly  rising  Hide- 
yoshi;  the  first  one  had  been  set  aside  early  for  no 
other  reason  than  personal  felicitation;  and  though 
Oyea  had  proven  constantly  his  best  adviser  as  well 
as  most  companionable  personage  she  now  held,  per 
haps  not  altogether  without  cause,  some  reasonable 
doubt  about  the  future.  Her  husband  had  won  his 
spurs,  such  as  they  were,  with  no  other  appreciable 
aid  than  her  own  good  counsel,  and  now  stood  in  a 
position  to  do  pretty  much  as  he  pleased,  political  or 
otherwise,  especially  socially.  His  lordship  was  get 
ting  more  restless,  seeking  new  fields  to  conquer.  She 
judged  him  rightly;  had  failed  to  render  him  an  heir; 
and  was  she  really,  after  all,  to  lose  him,  or  his  love? 

Neither  Jokoin  nor  Esyo  caused  her  so  much  as  a 
heart  pang;  the  one  frivolous,  the  other  intrusive, 
could  be  of  no  other  use  to  her  husband  than  to  serve 
some  political  necessity  or  trading  convenience  —  in 
fact  were  forthwith  adopted  by  him  for  those  express 


68  YODOGIMA 

purposes.  But  Yodogima !  Here  came  a  victim  who 
stood  in  the  light  of  a  possible  intruder. 

"Take  her  away,"  commanded  Oyea,  understanding 
her  liege  lord  from  the  beginning  and  deigning  to  set 
her  foot  down  only  as  she  knew  how  and  why. 

"You  wouldn't  have  me  turn  the  princess,  Shibata's 
daughter,  out,  would  you?  Come;  let  us  be  more 
charitable;  the  reason  need  not  deter  you,  in  the 
least ;  Oyea  denies  not  to  others  traits  she  herself  most 
admires.''' 

The  princess,  finally  admitted,  upon  terms  —  thanks 
to  Oyea  —  more  pleasing  to  her  than  satisfying  to  the 
would-be  traducer,  had  gained  from  their  parley  more 
than  a  knowledge  of  just  what  to  expect  and  how  best 
to  demean  herself;  she  had  not  only  won  with  modesty 
the  friendship  of  his  wife  but  thenceforth  knew  better 
than  any  other  the  weakest  spot  in  Hideyoshi's  hith 
erto  unreadable  make-up.  Here  at  least  the  great 
daimyo  had  really  halted  in  the  enforcement  of  his 
will.  No  man  had  yet  checked  or  escaped  him  in  his 
onward  rush  toward  the  goal  of  an  ardent  ambition, 
but  one  woman,  and  that,  too,  his  wife,  had  called  a 
halt  upon  desire;  perhaps  a  far  more  difficult  thing 
of  controlling  than  any  mere  mental  trait.  Oyea  had 
temporarily  interceded,  though,  without  any  other 
hold  than  mentality;  why  not  herself,  if  she  must, 
master  him;  having  at  least  something  more  potent, 
with  which  to  begin? 

Nor  had  she  long  to  wait  for  an  opportunity  to  pit 
herself  against  him:  as  well,  her  sister  Esyo.  In 


YODOGBI A  69 

the  final  allotment  of  stations  in  the  household,  Jokoin 
and  lisyo  had  been  assigned  quarters  and  allowed  ser 
vice  befitting  a  younger  and  an  elder  daughter;  but 
Vodogima  fared  in  some  respects  better:  in  fact,  was 
at  once  provided  with  attendance  more  elaborate  and 
attention  no  less  sumptuous  than  it  had  been  thereto 
fore  the  good  wife's  privilege  to  enjoy. 

Oyea  knew  only  too  well  what  this  meant  in  reality ; 
but  she  had  also  measured  the  limit  of  her  influence 
and  sought  by  compromise  to  ease  the  burden  of 
having  ultimately  to  bear  both  the  chagrin  and  the 
sorrow  of  tolerating  under  one  and  the  same  roof 
the  fruits  of  a  regularly  established  first-in-rank  con 
cubine. 

She  had  made  no  mistake  in  Yodogima,  however, 
and  surmised  from  the  first  that  would  Hideyoshi 
succeed  he  must  not  only  hold  his  own  against  outside 
influences  but  should  find  it  necessary  to  combat  nol 
any  the  less  at  home  the  combined  energies  of  two 
heads,  both  feminine  and  bent  upon  a  common  pur 
pose. 

Esyo  reasoned  differently.  She  was  cold  and  nega 
tive  by  nature.  Jokoin  had  gathered  round  herself 
all  the  available  chivalry  at  the  castle,  leaving  her 
less  ardent  sister  to  worry  and  resolve  rather  a  more 
studied  diversion.  And  jealousy  soon  developed  an 
opportunity.  She  wrought  accordingly. 

Thus  ensconced  in  time  as  satisfactorily  as  possible 
under  the  circumstances,  Hideyoshi  thought  it  best 
to  let  the  women  wrangle  out  among  themselves  the 


70  YODOGIMA 

ordinarily  necessary  little  adjustments  of  so  vital  a 
beginning;  hence,  without  much  ado,  and  little  en 
croachment  upon  the  liberties  or  patience  of  Yodo- 
gima,  set  off  toward  Ozaka  fully  determined  upon 
providing  the  young  princess  with  a  place  and  environ 
ment  all  her  own.  This  important  old  fortress  city  — 
wrested  in  former  years  by  Nobunaga  from  the  turbu 
lent  monks  —  not  only  occupied  one  of  the  strongest 
natural  sites  for  offensive  and  defensive  purposes  but 
offered  as  well  some  most  advantageous  prospects  for 
residential  beautification  and  enjoyment.  The  prop 
erty  already  fallen  into  his  hands,  Hideyoshi  forth 
with  gave  instructions  for  the  building  of  a  castle  that 
should  outstrip  anything  of  a  like  kind  theretofore 
attempted. 

"I  mean  to  do  this  for  Yodogima,  and  for  her 
alone,"  said  he,  to  Oyea,  who  called  him  to  task  for 
such  intended  prodigality,  "in  consideration  of  the 
benefits  bestowed  upon  me  by  her  dear  father  in  the 
performance  of  hirikara  (suicide).  You  need  have 
no  fears,  nor  she  any  misgivings." 

The  men  were  set  at  work,  and  Esyo  began  plan 
ning;  she  could  not  bear  the  slight,  yet  knew  that  her 
only  prospect  lay  in  lyeyasu. 

Dispatching  forthwith  a  message  (duly  intercepted, 
of  course)  in  which  all  of  the  facts  were  related  with 
as  much  imagination  as  she  could  bring  to  bear  upon 
the  subject,  Esyo  deliberately  set  herself  the  task  of 
undoing  all  that  Yodogima  had  suffered  to  accomplish. 

"Depend  upon  what  I  say,  she  has  no  thought  or 


YODOGIMA  71 

intention  of  keeping  or  remembering  her  obligations 
to  your  own  dear  self  or  to  any  one  else,  not  even  her 
own  abused  and  neglected  sisters,"  wrote  she,  at 
length,  winding  up  with  the  admonition  that  would 
he  save  himself  harm  he  should  act  at  once. 

Having  sooner  made  without  any  success  several 
attempts  at  communicating  with  Yodogima,  this  first 
missive  of  an  avowed  friend  —  whom  he  believed  to 
be  turned  somewhat  practical  and  not  at  all  senti 
mental —  quite  overcame  lyeyasu,  wholly  upsetting 
the  meager  plans  that  he  had  evolved  for  the  at  least 
temporary  subversion  of  a  prospective  antagonist  and 
the  immediate  recovery  of  his  truly  dearer  than  ever 
sweetheart.  Conscious  of  the  pitfalls  with  which  she 
must  be  surrounded,  yet  he  could  not  believe  her 
untrue:  realizing  the  dangerous  ground  upon  which 
he  must  tread,  still  he  would  not  for  that  refrain  from 
attempting  a  personal  visit ;  Yodogima  had  advised 
him :  she,  if  recovered  at  all,  must  be  released  by  some 
subtler  art  than  war  —  Hideyoshi  held  it  in  his  power 
to  crush  him,  and  was  he  any  less  a  diplomat? 

Hitherto  lyeyasu  had  held  peace  to  be  well  gained 
at  any  price,  but  now  that  love  possessed  him,  burned 
and  coaled  deep  into  the  heart-chords,  he  had  given 
up  the  future,  sold  his  soul  for  the  loan  of  a  force  with 
which  to  fight  reasonably  a  single  combat.  Recalling 
the  occasion,  he  would  have  thrust  Hideyoshi  through 
at  the  cost  of  a  bushida:  remembering  Katsutoya's 
warning,  the  barest  conception  of  a  laggard  wit 


Y 

startled  him  into  the  first  really  energizing  confession 
that  he  had  ever  made: 

"I  am  unworthy  of  her." 

Even-where  around,  men  with  less  opportunity  were 
rising  as  if  metalled  to  accomplish  anything.  He,  too, 
must  do  something  to  prove  himself  worth  the  confi 
dence  of  a  true  love  —  why  not  trust  Esyo  ?  Design 
ing  to  poison  him  against  Yodogima,  she  had  paved 
the  way  only  to  a  more  questionable  undertaking  — 
that  of  betrayal.  lyeyasu  answered  the  message 
kindly,  inclosing  therewith  another  to  Yodogima  (also 
intercepted),  informing  her  of  his  intentions  and 
asking  that  she  make  ready. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  letter,  Yodogima  said : 

"I  am  going  to  confide  in  you,  Esyo;  you  are  a 
sister  —  next  to  me  —  and  have  never  proven  false: 
I  just  must  have  the  confidence  of  someone ;  it  is  kill 
ing  me,  this  terrible  suspense.  Will  you  listen,  dear?" 

Esyo  nestled  close  to  Yodogima's  side,  and  looking 
submissively  into  her  face,  begged : 

"Let  us  trust  each  other,  Yodogima ;  otherwise  how 
can  we  bear  the  awful  burden  of  this  horrid  place?" 

"lyeyasu  is  coming;  he  has  arranged  it,  and  I  am 
going  away  from  here,  to  be  his  wife,  never  to  part 
again." 

"How  nice  that  will  be  —  but  the  castle !  Had  you 
forgotten  that?" 

"Yes;  it  shall  then  be  yours;  and  you,  a  more 
gracious  queen." 

The  bare  thought  of  gaining  such  preferment  only 


YODOGIMA  73 

at  the  will  of  a  much  sought  after  sister,  and  that, 
too,  for  the  sake  of  serving  rather  her  convenience. 
stung  Esyo  as  no  words  could  have  done.  She  would 
fight  out,  now,  the  course  sooner  determined  upon: 
hence  Hideyoshi,  on  the  very  next  day,  found  it  agree 
able  to  dispatch,  without  any  compunction  upon  his 
part,  an  invitation  to  lyeyasu  forthwith  to  come  to 
Azuchi,  there  to  pay  respects  and  claim  his  intended 
bride. 

Other  advice  went  along,  however,  as  Jokoin  well 
knew,  which  was  neither  intercepted  nor  answered, 
advising  him  to  do  no  such  thing,  but  to  prepare  him- 
it  once  for  defence. 


74  YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  IX 

IN  the  meantime  lyeyasu  had  concluded  it  wise  to 
listen  to  the  proposals  of  Nobukatsu,  his  nearest 
neighbor  at  the  west  and  the  eldest  living  son  of  No- 
bunaga:  pretender  to  the  father's  estates  and  brother 
to  Nobutaka,  a  recently  defeated  ally  of  Shibata. 

This  young  man's  prospects  had  been  effectively 
shattered,  in  consequence  of  the  fall  of  the  latter 
and  the  removal  of  Ishida,  his  supporter,  to  Mino; 
still  he  searched  everywhere  in  the  hope  of  finding 
some  daimyo  minded  and  able  to  espouse  his  cause 
against  the  now  only  too  patently  determined  usurper, 
Hideyoshi.  lyeyasu  based  small  reliance  upon  any 
strength  or  power  to  be  gained  by  as  doubtful  an 
arrangement,  but  wanted  more  some  plausible  excuse 
for  the  making  of  so  unequal  a  stand;  as  had  been 
prematurely  forced. 

Nobukatsu  was  generally  looked  upon  as  the  right 
ful  successor  to  his  father's  rank  and  place,  hence  any 
friendship  shown  to  him  should  in  one  way  or  another 
develop  some  greater  claim  to  popularity.  It  had 
also  come  to  be  considered  by  neighboring  daimyos  as 
little  less  than  heroic  even  to  dare  attempt  any  sort  of 
armed  defense  against  the  up-to-that-time  invincible 
Hideyoshi.  All  these  reasons  were  wholly  patent  to 
lyeyasu  —  young,  able,  and  perhaps  ambitious.  True 
he  had  not  given  any  especial  thought  to  the  future, 


YODOGIMA  75 

save  only  the  immediate  relations  growing  out  of  an 
endowed  situation,  and  —  Yodogima.  Love,  with  all 
its  soothingly  absorbent  benefactions,  remained  upper 
most  in  his  mind :  was  the  goad  that  directly  spurred 
him  to  undreamed  energies  and  unlikely  undertak 
ings,  would  risk  his  life  and  fortune  for  the  pleasures 
of  a  single,  transcendent  joy. 

Yet  underneath  this  younger  development  there 
may  have  lurked  the  ecstacy  of  a  sub-conscious  deter 
mination  to  loom  large  in  the  more  sordid  events  then 
subtlely  approaching.  Tyeyasu  bore  the  blood  of  the 
Minamoto ;  those  giants  of  old,  whose  daring  alone 
had  curbed  and  clipped  the  Taira :  with  such  a  prestige, 
and  so  potent  a  cross,  the  temporarily  humbled  prince 
of  Mikawa,  lyeyasu,  may  have  inwardly  harbored, 
without  any  apparent  conviction  or  consciousness,  the 
possibilities  of  a  posterity  acknowledging  none  other 
for  father  than  lyeyasu  and  for  mother  Yodogima. 

And  along  with  forced  opportunity  came  the  deter 
mination.  Nobukatsu  once  in  his  power  would  also 
serve  a  ready  means  of  compromise,  in  case  of  ncco-- 
sity.  The  two  armies  were  therefore  consolidated, 
and  lyeyasu  commanding  assumed  adroitly  the  de 
fensive. 

Never  for  a  moment  underestimating  lyeyasu's 
strength  of  purpose  and  force  of  character,  Hide- 
yoshi  made  no  less  careful  preparations,  nor  lost  any 
time  in  hurling  his  combined  strength  against  him. 
Hidenaga,  his  half-brother,  forthwith  recalled  from 
Tamba,  was  placed  at  the  head,  outranking  both 


;6  YODOGIMA 

Kuroda,  the  Shintoist,  and  Takiyama,  the  Christian, 
respectively  at  the  head  of  the  two  main  divisions 
of  the  army  and  between  whom  vital  differences  had 
arisen ;  one  of  the  reasons  ostensibly  for  the  introduc 
tion  of  a  new  leader  and  centralized  authority  —  not, 
in  fact,  because  Hideyoshi  himself  at  all  times  and  in 
every  instance  assumed  absolute  control  and  personal 
direction :  also  anticipating  as  punctiliously  the  possi 
bilities  of  defeat,  he  would  have  someone  upon  whose 
shoulders  to  shift  the  blame  and  the  odium,  hence  the 
second  reason,  for  calling  in  Hidenaga,  at  this  par 
ticular  time. 

"Do  not,  under  any  circumstances,  allow  some  tem 
porary  success  to  induce  you  to  follow  up  the  enemy," 
enjoined  Hideyoshi,  against  his  departing  generals,  as 
they  marched  off  to  war  lyeyusa  into  submission,  or 
death  —  perhaps,  in  truth,  if  possible,  the  latter. 

For  the  first  time  in  his  life,  Hideyoshi  remained 
behind.  No  doubt  he,  too,  had,  in  his  way,  conceived 
the  idea  of  a  direct  line,  based  also  upon  the  progeny 
of  none  other  than  Yodogima  —  and  himself.  To  do 
this  he  should  not  only  crush  lyeyasu  in  the  East,  but 
must  insure  Yodogima  against  the  dangers  of  intrigue 
at  home. 

He  could  trust  Oyea ;  she  had  never  failed  him  when 
treated  fairly,  and  he  believed  her  by  this  time  fully 
cognizant  of  the  motive  and  utterly  disdainful  of  the 
effect  that  any  such  laudable  undertaking  might 
wreak  upon  their  sole  relations ;  amicably  settled, 
hence  reasonably  sure  of  lasting  countenance. 


YODOGIMA  77 

It  was  Esyo  more  than  any  other  who  caused  him 
uneasiness.  True  he  had  read  the  correspondence 
and  listened  to  her  declarations  without  so  much  as  a 
doubt  about  the  consequences  or  a  suggestion  that 
could  in  any  manner  enlighten  her,  but  what  effect 
\v«>uld  these,  to  him  seemingly  childish  hazards  have 
upon  Yodogima,  a  sister ;  and  how  would  she  demean 
herself  in  the  face  of  overburdening  contingencies, 
looming  in  all  directions? 

Without  doubting  in  the  least  Hidenaga's  ability  or 
faithfulness,  he  would  have  personally  gone  to  the 
front,  immediately  and  without  reserve :  yet  not  alone 
Yodogima's  safety  held  him  back ;  he  must  know  more 
of  the  natural  workings  of  her  heart,  assure  himself 
first  that  some  hope  of  reciprocal  regard  might  bless 
his  innermost  desire,  for  Hideyoshi  would  not  risk 
the  breaking  of  an  unalterable  law :  would  rather 
attune  expediency  to  the  demands  of  necessity,  so 
threw  himself  headlong  into  the  merciless  throes  of  a 
self-willed,  if  far  fetched,  coquetry. 

"I  am  interested  to  know  more  of  your  good  self, 
and  of  your  delights  and  aspirations,  Yodogima," 
avowed  Hideyoshi,  frankly,  and  almost  pathetically, 
as  the  two  met,  accidentally  —  it  may  have  been  inten 
tionally  —  while  strolling  in  the  gardens,  outside  the 
castle  buildings,  and  overlooking  the  broad,  trans 
parent  waters  of  lake  I.iwa,  in  the  distance. 

Yodogima's  heart  fairly  stopped,  then  beat  ragingly, 
though  her  face  and  manner  indicated  no  perceptible 
change  or  concern.  She  only  looked  the  farther  over 


78  YODOGIMA 

an  unbroken  surface,  save  now  and  then  a  ripple  that 
yellowed  and  ruffled  in  the  mellowed  sun's  rays  of  a 
cloudlessly  departing  mid-summer  day. 

''You,  too,  seem  bewitched  of  a  prospect  that  al 
ways  gladdens,  never  denies  me.  Let  us  go  there,  you 
and  I,  where  we  may  have  the  world  to  ourselves, 
leaving  the  castle,  with  its  bickerings  and  battles  and 
their  equations,  away  and  behind." 

Nearly  crying  out,  the  now  fast  discerning  princess, 
almost  overcome  with  eagerness,  held  fast  hold  upon 
the  face-chords;  yet  no  longer  vainly  shying,  per 
mitted  a  somewhat  closer  approach  than  before  —  if 
none  the  less  dignified  or  becoming,  at  that. 

For  the  first  time,  though  slight  the  occasion,  Hide- 
yoshi's  heart  bounded  with  relief.  The  exactions  of 
war  or  the  involutions  of  deceit  no  longer  commanded 
first  attention;  the  faintest  relaxation  of  a  hard-held 
and  safely-guarded  privilege  had  transfixed  his  whole 
energy,  wrought  a  new  being ;  though  the  destiny  of  a 
nation  and  the  trend  of  government,  henceforth  and 
always,  might  evolve  therefrom. 

"You  shall  not  condescend  to  answer  by  word,  how 
ever  pleasing  that  might  be;  goddesses  have  only  to 
will  it  thus  or  that,  and  mere  man  must  break  his 
neck  to  do  it  so.  Shall  we  go?" 

"Toward  Hiyeisan  ?"  queried  Yodogima,  innocently, 
yet  significantly. 

"No;  in  the  opposite  direction;  across  the  lake.  I 
know  a  temple  there,  close  down  at  the  water's  edge, 
better  rid  of  a  kind  and  more  select  about  its  visita- 


YODOGIMA  79 

tions,  where  we  can  drink  deeply  and  no  mortal  shall 
question.     Hence,  Yodogima?" 

On  one  condition  —  but  will  not  to-morrow  do;  I 
cannot  make  answer  so  soon?"  promised  she,  thought 
ful  to  gain  as  much  time  as  possible ;  having  measured 
accurately  the  probabilities  of  Hidenaga's  advance. 
"Granted,  my  lady:  what  is  it?" 
"The  condition  is  that  my  sister  Esyo  accompany 
us  —  Jokoin  nor  Oyea  would  be  either  serviceable  or 
agreeable,  as  I  believe,  considering  the  purpose  that 
y<>u  have  in  mind  and  the  rebellion  that  pours  from 
my  heart.  In  as  much,  I  have  to  ask  you  and  you  to 
grant  only  this :  that  you  heed  nor  hold  me  any  other 
or  for  more." 

What?    Have  you  not  heard  of  the  hostilities?" 
"Yes;  my  sister  told  me  about  it." 
"Esyo?" 
"Yes." 

"And  —  you  have  confidence  in  her?" 
The  answer  already  on  her  lips,  did  not  escape  him, 
though  Yodogima  hesitated;  she  had  read  him  in 
time  to  save  herself —  surmise:!  that  he  knew  more 
than  she  would  express  or  deny  —  and  o  Diluting  a 
happier  conclusion  endeavored  to  leave  him  standing 
as  near  the  brink  of  certainty  as  it  had  been  his  pleas 
ure  to  assume. 

"You  would  have  me  disown  a  sister?" 
"I  would  know  you  better." 

"Then  judge  me  with  less  compassion  and  more  of 
wit;  I  take  the  responsibility  —  " 


8o  YODOGIMA 

"Not  of  war?" 

"No;  but  of  its  cause  and  consequence." 

"I  admire  you  all  the  more  for  that,  though  you 
leave  me  without  a  peg  to  stand  on.  Nor  shall  I 
surrender  one  whit  the  ground  I've  gained,  no  less  an 
opinion  formed.  Take  the  whole  family  along,  if 
you  like :  their  gadding,  a  virtue  stands  you  none  the 
less  in  hand ;  to-morrow  Hideyoshi  shall  know  - 

"How  it  is  to  be  tricked." 

Ha,  ha  —  you  think  me  easily  done." 

They  sat  upon  the  beach,  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
following  day,  Hideyoshi  listening  with  rising  antici 
pation  and  Yodogima  straining  every  wit  she  had, 
prolonging  and  intensifying  the  illusion.  She  did  not 
know  that  Esyo  had  deliberately,  if  falsely,  precipi 
tated  the  conflict,  nor  was  she  aware  of  Hideyoshi's 
perusal  of  her  own  correspondence  with  lyeyasu  — 
all  of  it,  excepting  only  the  last  letter,  in  which  she 
had  advised  him  to  make  peace  at  any  price,  save 
honor.  Yet  she  was  conscious  that  a  conflict  raged, 
was  perhaps  at  that  moment  fighting  to  the  death, 
between  two  unequal  forces,  in  which  no  quarter 
should  be  asked  or  given,  and  that  her  own  lover  was 
desperately  pitted  in  that  struggle  against  the  very 
man  who  held  her  captive,  grovelled  at  her  feet  a 
weakling  and  a  beggar. 

"Why  should  I  not  surrender,  if  needs  be,  this  frail 
body  of  mine  to  save  him?"  again  and  again  rose  in 
her  mind,  as  often  to  be  discarded  and  smothered  as  a 
thing  utterly  impossible. 


YODOGIMA  81 

"No;  I'll  yet  win  for  him  by  subtler  means  an 
equal  chance;  and  when  I've  done  that  —  a  woman 
cannot  do  less :  should  do  no  more." 

A  heron  stalked  by,  disdaining  a  small  crab  that 
backed  and  snapped  among  the  slime-washed  rocks: 
Hideyoshi  strained  his  eyes,  meditating  momentarily 
the  legend  of  a  bygone  day. 

"A  Heike?"  queried  he,  half  aloud,  rising  to  exam 
ine  more  closely  the  supposed  Taira  symbol. 

Yodogima's  throat  filled,  and  failed  of  utterance. 

"It's  only  a  common  sort,"  observed  he,  returning 
with  the  obstreperous  little  thing  clinging  tightly  to 
the  stick's  end. 

Reseating  himself,  the  conversation  for  once  began 
somewhat  to  lag.  It  was  too  soon  yet  to  boat  round 
shady  points  or  tempt  strange  communications  from 
the  deep,  so  the  two  remained  in  the  shade.  Esyo 
studied  with  unconcern  the  deeper  mysteries  of  early 
dragon-fly  catching  and  the  strange  cupidity  witli 
which  the  stupid  long-bodied  creatures  permitted 
themselves  to  be  ensnared  and  haled  to  bay.  Only 
Oyea  clung  to  the  old  temple,  near  by,  farther  up  the 
long,  sloping  incline ;  two  lions  carved  in  stone  stood 
sentinel  there,  and  these  she  contemplated  in  prayer 
to  the  good  god  who  as  earnestly  watched  over  them. 
Yodogima  leaned  forward,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
duced  Hideyoshi  to  return  her  look  without  avoidance, 
asking  him: 

"Do  you  believe  in  these  tales  of  old?"  conscious 
more  of  the  temple  than  of  crabs. 


82  YODOGIMA 

"Perhaps  —  only,  I  might  say,  as  occasion  serves  or 
convenience  requires." 

''Did  anybody  ever  deem  them  differently?" 

Hideyoshi  had  neither  the  opportunity  nor  any 
inclination  to  answer;  a  courier  dashed  up,  breathless 
and  expectant,  presenting  him  with  a  message  from 
the  front. 

"Ha,  ha  —  the  light  is  on,"  chuckled  he,  clapping 
his  hands  and  dancing  about  hilariously. 

The  intelligence  roused  added  interest,  as  it  only 
could,  but  Yodogima  continued  in  the  full  command 
of  her  presence.  She  would  have  gladly  surrendered 
her  life  for  a  moment's  encouragement  to  the  man  she 
loved,  yet  as  circumstanced  would  not  lose  her  hold 
upon  him  whom  she  loathed. 

Hideyoshi  approached  closer :  silence  alone  repulsed 
him,  the  wisdom  she  displayed  made  ready  the  pyre, 
and  the  dignity  of  her  conduct  set  the  torch  that 
lighted  within  a  conflagration  that  conserved  no 
bounds.  Only  such  as  she  could  appease  the  appetite 
of  a  true  god.  He  must  have  her,  let  the  heavens 
fall. 

''Tell  them,"  commanded  he,  "that  Hideyoshi  rights 
more  fiercely,  confronts  a  larger  host,  holds  a  vitaler 
purpose,  augurs  —  is  just  now  engaged  at  the  battle 
of  self.  Go  hence." 

The  sun  had  set,  and  their  little  party,  four  in  all, 
sat  round  a  repast;  spread  and  served  with  hands 
unsoiled,  neither  knowing  an  art  nor  upholding  a  truth 
other  than  as  willed  them. 


YODOGIMA  83 

Oyea  looked  her  sole  lord  in  the  face;  she  saw  no 
trace  of  chagrin  or  sorrow  there;  all  her  life  had  been 
devoted  to  the  smoothing  of  his  pillow,  the  making  of 
a  god,  and  to  the  serving  of  some  purpose  —  just 
what,  she  had  never  stopped  to  consider.  Yodogima 
sat  near  at  hand,  supremely  reserved,  withal  grandly 
inviting.  Hideyoshi,  the  husband,  too,  was  there; 
and  should  Oyea  be  forgiven,  perhaps,  in  that  she 
conceived  him  a  little  more  godly  for  the  taste  and 
the  judgment  of  that  selection?  Xo  other  God  conde 
scended  to  answer.  She  believed  him  more  than 
incarnate  — 

Another  courier  arrived,  more  anxious  than  the 
first. 

Hideyoshi  grinned,  this  time;  saying,  calmly,  with 
out  any  exultation : 

"The  enemy  wavers,  and  is  — 

Xcither  had   this   sentence  been   finished,   when  — 
Yodogima   said  not   a   word  nor  did   she   show   any 
change  of  color,  yet  the  blood  seemed  freezing  in  her 
veins  —  Hideyoshi  threw  down  the  message,  exclaim 
ing: 

"Tell  them  they  know  not  what  they  say ;  an  enemy 
is  never  'defeated'  till  captured,  decapitated,  and  dis 
credited.  Go." 

Evening  wore  away,  and  none  remained  to  render 
the  night's  artfuller  subtleties  but  Yodogomi  and  her 
now  slaving  protege ;  servants  and  others  less  welcome, 
or  more  discerning,  hail  found  it  convenient  or  expe- 


84  YODOGIMA 

client  to  busy  themselves  in  more  directions  than  one. 

Esyo,  paling  at  the  significance  of  that  last  message, 
no  longer  bandied  discretion  or  consulted  verity  in 
the  making  up  of  her  mind  just  what  she  should  or 
would  do.  lyeyasu  had  been  deceived  and  a  sister 
betrayed  —  what  mattered ;  she  would  set  things  right, 
at  the  cost  of  double-dealing  —  another? 

Still  a  third  courier  bounded  into  the  open  room  in 
which  they  sat  or  lounged  at  will. 

Hideyoshi  grew  apprehensive  as  he  read;  and  grip 
ping  the  message,  snarled: 

"lyeyasu  retreats  —  " 

Without  concluding  also  this  sentence  or  changing 
his  attitude,  the  puzzled  daimyo,  still  blindly  uncon 
scious  of  his  own  predicament,  but  bitterly  alive  to 
the  probability  of  Hidenaga's  speedy  annihilation, 
turned  to  Yodogima,  shamefully  betraying,  as  he  had 
never  done  before,  the  inner  hopelessness  of  a  hotly 
contested,  fiercely  grinding  will  determination.  Her 
head  reeled  —  it  seemed  as  if  all  were  lost  —  but  the 
body  responded,  revealing  no  trace  of  the  terrible 
battle  she  fought :  on  higher  grounds  than  he  had  con 
ceived  or  lyeyasu  felt  —  in  consequence  of  dreaming, 
no  less  endangered  by  waiting.  Forced  and  beaten, 
Hideyoshi  could  bear  the  suspense  no  longer. 

"Is  it  possible  —  are  you  —  in  fact —  a  stoic?  You 
appear  to  be  unmoved  —  unresolved  —  yet  —  lyeyasu 
by  retreating  has  won  —  has  proven  himself  —  to  be 
—  a  greater  man  than  —  no,  no ;  I  understand  ;  know 


YODOGIMA  85 

'how  it  is  to  be  tricked' !  Yoclogima,  I  have  no  fine 
speech  to  make  or  promises  to  render ;  to  you,  lyeyasu 
<>\ves  it  that  he  lives:  an  humbler  admirer,  only  that 
he  can  better  respect.  — *  Stay,  you,  courier ;  Hideyoshi 
goes." 


86  YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  X 

NEITHER  Hideyoshi,  nor  Yodogima,  for  the  mo 
ment,  took  any  pains  to  discover  or  to  suspect 
the  identity  of  that  last  message-bearer ;  though  had 
either  one  observed  at  all  only  the  dishevelled  clothing 
he  might  have  been  induced  to  look  underneath  the 
mask,  hiding  too  slenderly  a  timid,  anxious  face.  It 
were  enough  for  Yodogima  to  know  that  her  lover 
had  risen  to  first  place  in  the  estimation  of  an  only 
rival ;  for  Hideyoshi  to  realize  once  and  for  all  that 
the  price  of  Shibata's  eldest  daughter  was  to  be  some 
thing  dearer  than  the  lone  bagatelle  of  a  daimyo's 
willing  or  the  baser  invocations  of  a  traditional  heri 
tage. 

Hideyoshi  tore  his  way  over  the  open  road  like  mad. 
The  vitalest  opportunity  of  his  life  had  been  denied 
him,  a  victory  snatched  away  that  seemed  almost 
within  grasp,  and  he  himself  written  down  an  ass  at  a 
time  when  his  name  should  have  been  heralded 
throughout  the  empire  as  invincible  —  and  by  the 
doing  of  a  woman. 

''Shame  be  upon  they  who  think  themselves  sexed 
into  heaven ;  it  is  might  that  makes  us  what  we  are  — 
right  or  wrong,  male  or  female,  man  or  his  kind. 
Then  beware !"  threatened  he,  as  the  dust  rolled  in  the 
wake  of  his  ride  toward  the  field. 

Nor  was  Yodogima  less  conscious  of  a  dawning 


YODOGIMA  87 

respect  for  Hideyoshi.  The  knowing  princess  had  ex 
pected  harsher  treatment,  if  not  more  subtle  means, 
at  the  hands  of  her  captor;  who  had,  after  all,  proven 
himself  a  respecter  of  ability  if  not  an  admirer  of  vir 
tue;  and  what  if  he  should  vanquish  lyeyasu  and,  in 
fact,  carry  out  his  ideas  about  total  extermination? 
The  very  thought  of  such  a  possibility  deadened  every 
reason. 

Esyo,  too,  had  gone;  she  had  devised  less  and  rea 
soned  more,  conjured  her  sister  ambitious  and  charged 
Hideyoshi  with  ungratefulness;  she  had  witnessed, 
become  conscious  of  the  latter's  growing  regard  for 
Yodogima  in  the  face  of  all  that  she  had  done  to 
check  it  —  to  further  her  own  designs  —  and  now 
turned  to  a  newly  devised,  though  less  hopeful,  expe 
diency  :  overcoming  with  difficulty  the  distance,  soon 
found  herself  in  the  bosom  of  lyeyasu's  command ;  a 
crooked  purpose  put  to  straights,  knowing  no  rest 
and  once  off,  she  did  not  lag  so  much,  in  fact  reached 
her  destination  before  Hideyoshi  had  sighted  his. 

Thus  abondoned  by  the  only  sister  apparently  left 
to  her  —  without  some  hint  or  even  a  surmise  as  to 
the  cause  or  purpose  —  and  with  a  determined  suitor 
speeding  toward  the  destruction  of  the  only  one  she 
loved,  and  with  her  own  hands  tied,  and  she  powerless 
to  succor  him,  Yodogima  turned  to  composure  alone 
for  consolation  —  presumably  a  little  body,  unexpected 
and  unmindful,  careless  and  happy,  as  if  an  angel  from 
heaven,  tripped  lightly  into  her  presence,  and  throw- 


88  YODOGIMA 

ing  down  a  big,  ungainly  mask,  bantered,  rather  pro- 
vokingly,  if  happily: 

"You  didn't  know  me  at  all,  did  you?" 

"Jokoin !"  gasped  Yodogima. 

"Yes ;  and  Hideyoshi,  with  all  his  eyes,  never  saw  a 
thing.  What  stupid  people." 

"How  did  you  find  the  way,  Jokoin;  and  —  what 
brings  you?" 

"1  came  to  tell  you  —  I  just  couldn't  wait;  they 
are  such  a  poky  lot,  those  captains  and  generals  and 
would-be  gallants  —  and  it  isn't  any  trouble,  at  all,  to 
go  anywhere  one  wants  to  go  —  how  did  you  like  my 
disguise?" 

"I  hadn't  thought  about. that  —  it  looks  a  bit  scant 
—  but  where  have  you  been  ?" 

"Oh,  I've  had  lots  of  fun ;  went  to  the  front  —  but 
Takiyama  is  a  bore;  can't  think  of  anybody  or  talk 
about  anything  save  someone,  said  to  have  lived  some 
time,  called  Christ  —  oh,  but  they're  a  pesky  lot,  these 
Christians !" 

"Jokoin  !     How  you  talk !" 

"It's  their  way  and  —  quite  catching,  you  know ; 
they  say,  there  are  a  lot  of  them,  already  —  in  Hide- 
yoshi's  service,  though." 

"Please  do  not,  Jokoin ;  I  cannot  bear  it  —  to  hear 
you  use  such  language." 

"Well,  I  gave  them  the  slip,  all  right,  and  here  I 
am  —  but  where  are  the  men  ?  Is  Hideyoshi  the  only 
one  you  had?" 

"Sister,  you  shock  me ;  I  cannot  understand  you !" 


89 

''Oh,  yes,  you  can.  Just  take  a  tumble.  Turn  a 
somersault  —  you  have  no  idea  how  easy  it  is;  and 
how  stimulating,  withal.  1  wouldn't  be  in  love  with 
only  one  man,  at  a  time,  as  you  are,  right  now,  this 
very  minute,  for  anything.  Jt  doesn't  pay,  at  all,  to 
be  sentimental." 

Yodogima  did  not  answer,  at  once ;  she  could  not  at 
first,  for  want  of  composure ;  afterwards,  perhaps, 
because  her  own  ideals  seemed  the  harder  to  encourage 
in  the  face  of  such  light-heartedness ;  but  finally,  that 
joy  which  is  wrought  only  in  the  crucible  of  a  con 
victed  enlightenment  opened  wider  still  the  floodgates 
of  confidence,  bidding  her  say : 

"Jokoin,  let  me  tell  you  that  to  love  is  a  sacred 
thing;  and  if  you  care  to  win  and  hold  a  man's  regard, 
then  learn  to  use  your  tongue,  but  keep  in  hand  the 
heart." 

"As  you  did  with  lyeyasu.  Poor  fellow.  They  say 
he  is  about  to  croak  from  distraction." 

"I  do  not  know  what  you  mean ;  your  speech  has 
become  quite  unintelligible.  Someone  must  have  exer 
cised  a  strange  influence  upon  you." 

"It's  the  newfangled  religion  —  I've  got  it,  I'll  ad 
mit —  though  it's  the  worst  sort  of  a  makeshift  and 
good  only  for  those  who  need  it,  who  practice  it,  and 
who  believe  in  it.  Why,  Yodo,  under  it,  you  can  do 
anything,  then  take  a  bath,  bend  the  knee,  and  shout 
for  Christ's  sake:  he'll  do  the  rest." 

"Horrors,  sister;  I  do  believe  you  are  possessed!" 

"So  are  you,  Yodogima,  and  all  the  rest  —  every- 


90  YODOGIMA 

body,  dead  or  alive,  born  and  unborn;  only  you  don't 
know  it,  and  for  that  must  suffer :  they  say,  go  to  — 
well  I  can't  just  recall  the  name,  and  it's  such  a  bad 
place  I  won't  startle  you  with  mentioning  it." 

''Please  do  not;  1  shouldn't  comprehend  it  —  but 
what  of  lyeyasu  ?  Why  distracted  ?" 

''Because  of  your  advice,  and  Esyo's  treachery ;  she 
fibbed  on  both  of  you  to  the  one,  and  tried  to  inspire 
the  other  wrongly:  between  the  two  of-  you  he  has 
taken  a  tumble  —  as  I  but  a  moment  ago  said  you 
might  find  it  advisable  or  convenient  to  do.  The 
whole  enemy  is  afraid  of  him,  their  reports  are  all  a 
pack  of  lies,  and  nothing  less  than  Hideyoshi's  pres 
ence  can  save  lyeyasu's  doing  about  as  he  pleases,  in 
these  parts.  Take  courage,  sister,  and  bet  your  boots 
on  —  the  winner ;  I  am  going  to  return,  for  the  fun, 
and  if  you  wish  shall  give  your  love  to  —  which  one, 
Yodogima  ?" 

Jokoin  ran  away,  without  giving  her  sister  a  chance 
to  answer  had  she  possessed  the  courage  or  the  pa 
tience  to  do  so ;  Yodogima  loved  too  deeply,  held  life, 
that  she  knew,  as  against  death,  its  natural  conse 
quence,  too  seriously  revealed  in  the  underlying  hu 
manities  of  an  established  conduct,  to  bandy  truth  for 
the  sake  of  bolstering  courage  or  lightening  the  bur 
dens  of  an  ordered  continuity. 

Oyea  proved  a  better  counsellor,  more  a  comforter, 
and  together  they  reconciled  their  returning,  though 
weary  it  was,  toward  the  castle  whence  they  had  de 
parted  so  shortly,  more  hopeful,  if  less  doubtful. 


YOlKMilMA  91 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  homegoing  over,  both  Yodogima  and  Oyea 
settled  down  to  a  kind  of  preconceived  expect 
ancy.  Their  place  continued  as  before,  under  the 
domination  of  a  single  master,  the  husband  of  the  one 
and  admirer  of  the  other,  assuming  the  attitude  more 
of  respecter  than  lover  to  either.  Neither  outranked 
the  other,  as  yet ;  nor  did  their  proposed  spheres,  from 
Ilideyoshi's  way  of  thinking,  in  any  manner  conflict; 
nor  were  they  at  all  inconsistent,  as  determined  by 
nisiom  or  tradition  from  time  immemorial,  with  good 
citizenship  and  right  living:  each  cognizant  of  her 
duty,  and  mindful  of  the  respect  due  to  the  head  of 
the  household  as  established  and  designed ;  no  one 
jealous  or  hateful  or  inconsiderate  of  another,  but 
thence  possessed  of  the  utmost  confidence  and  respect 
for  each  other ;  they  both  set  their  hearts  and  energies 
to  the  accomplishment  of  one  and  the  same  end. 

"Do  you  love  lyeyasu,  Yodogima?"  queried  Oyea, 
one  soft,  suggestive  evening,  as  they  two  sat  in  the 
opened-up  room,  meditating,  together,  more  than  con 
templating,  the  possible  outcome  of  that  conflict  — 
then  renewed  and  waging  between  the  one's  lover, 
who  had  vowed  to  live  only  for  her,  and  the  other's 
husband,  whom  she  loved  and  hoped  for  quite  as 
much. 


92  YODOGIMA 

"I  do,"  answered  Yodogima,  with  brightening  eyes 
and  confident  voice. 

Oyea  pondered  now.  She,  too,  felt  the  agony  with 
which  Yodogima  —  whom  she  had  come  to  love  — 
must  receive  the  news :  news  that  to  her  seemed  other 
wise  impossible  of  coming.  And  Oyea  had  taken 
great  pride  in  her  husband's  achievements ;  next  to 
her  love  for  him,  it  had  been  her  greatest  concern. 
Then  she  thought  of  her  own  position  and  Yodogima's 
chance  should  lyeyasu  fall ;  Hideyoshi  spared  not  an 
enemy,  and  halted  nowhere  in  the  resolving  of  his 
plans :  if  not  by  force,  then  by  subtler  means  —  still 
harder  to  bear.  Suddenly  her  expression  strangely 
changed,  and  turning  to  Yodogima,  she  said,  reassur 
ingly  : 

'Then  I  trust  he  shall  not  lose." 

Yodogima's  eyes  softened ;  and  bowing  low,  out 
of  respect,  but  struggling  hard  against  scruple,  the 
more  finely  wrought  princess  thanked  her  benefactress, 
saying : 

"How  can  I  ever  requite  such  generosity." 

Time  wore  away  dull  and  anxiously  at  the  castle, 
till  presently  word  came  of  the  great  battle  of  Koma- 
kiyami,  where  Hideyoshi's  advance  had  been  checked, 
all  his  ready  attempts  at  bribing  the  enemy's  superior 
officers  put  to  naught,  and  lyeyasu  with  inferior  num 
bers  had,  at  last,  given  his  opponent  such  a  thrashing 
as  none  thought  possible :  in  view  of  further  develop 
ments,  proving  to  be  the  initial  of  a  series  of  engage 
ments  that  were  to  revolutionize  government,  change 


YODOGIMA  93 

the  trend  of  civilization,  and  leave,  perhaps,  its  lasting 
imprint  upon  the  future  higher  destiny  of  all  man 
kind. 

Jyeyasu  drove  the  foe  out  of  his  territory  and 
across  the  river,  then  halted  to  reorganize  his  broken 
lines  and  conserve  better  their  resources ;  Esyo  delib 
erately  told  him  that  Yodogima  had  grown  indifferent, 
his  own  intelligence  warned  him  of  Hideyoshi's  re 
cuperation,  and  whether  convinced  of  the  former  or 
frightened  at  the  latter  the  not  over  confident  victor 
in  place  of  following  up  a  first  triumph  resolutely  set 
himself  down  again  to  defend,  once  more  to  wait. 

Hideyoshi,  on  the  other  hand,  had  in  the  meantime 
found  it  convenient  or  wise  to  consult  Oyea;  and 
whether  acting  upon  her  advice  to  make  friends  with 
lyeyasu  or  designing  to  accomplish  by  unfair  means 
what  he  had  failed  of  doing  with  arms  began  forth 
with  to  reconstruct  the  shattered  fragments  of  his 
sorely  beaten  army,  recruiting  with  additional  levies 
and  intrenching  himself  as  best  he  could  to  scare  or 
mislead  the  enemy  into  remaining  within  the  omliiK1^ 
of  his  own  domain.  And  there  they  stayed,  bickering 
and  bartering,  one  on  either  side  the  river  Kumaki. 
both  afraid  but  eager,  till  diplomacy  had  been  for  the 
first  time  developed  into  a  sufficiently  vital  force  to 
make  war  a  more  extensive  if  not  crueler  means  of 
settling  dispute  and  rolling  onward  the  vast,  silent 
confusion  of  ethical  entities. 

To  do  this,  and  to  carry  forward  each  his  advan 
tage  in  the  .exercising  of  so  little  known  an  agency, 


94  YODOGIMA 

neither  one  halted,  but  adjusted  his  conscience  in  the 
use  of  instruments  that  the  heroics  had  held  sacredly 
above  the  sordid  selfishness  of  eager  quest;  woman 
must  be  permitted  to  degrade  herself  —  yes,  should 
be  used  —  that  man's  supremacy  be  not  endangered 
or  questioned  in  its  strident  march  toward  the  goal 
of  a  collectively  devised,  pampered,  vain,  and  self- 
denying  individuality. 

Esyo  and  Jokoin  were  both  taken  advantage  of. 
The  latter  to  carry  tainted  messages  from  a  scheming 
father,  by  adoption  only;  she  could  cross  the  river 
and  thus  avoid  an  encounter  that  other  men  than 
Hideyoshi  in  those  days  had  courted  as  manlier  — 
lyeyasu  would  not  harm  or  hinder  a  sister  to  his  love, 
whether  doubted  or  mistaken,  or  both.  Esyo  served 
lyeyasu  in  a  like  capacity;  not,  however,  until  the 
younger  man  had  despaired  of  his  challenge  to  the 
other  to  meet  him  in  personal  combat. 

"Tell  your  master,  or  father,  or  whatever  he  is," 
said  he  to  Jokoin,  in  answer  to  Hideyoshi's  repeated 
attempts,  "that  our  contention  is  purely  personal,  and 
that  neither  he  nor  I  have  any  right  to  compromise 
a  matter  of  heart,  or  to  sacrifice  the  lives  of  others 
and  the  welfare  of  a  community  to  settle  that  kind 
of  difference.  Let  us  then  invoke  a  j uster  means." 

"But  we  cannot  do  that  except  it  be  the  will  of  the 
one  for  whom  we  fight ;  Hideyoshi  shall  not  stop  short 
of  death,"  replied  he,  without  reserve. 

It  was  agreed  that  they  should  abide  the  decision 
of  Yodogima ;  but  how  obtain  an  impartial  declara- 


YODOGLMA  95 

tion  from  her?  lyeyasu  insisted  upon  her  presence: 
Hideyoshi  declared  himself  indifferent. 

"If  you  want  her  to  come  here  it  will  be  necessary 
for  you  to  fetch  her:  if  you  wish  to  right  the  matter 
there,  why.  then,  go;  until  settled  Hideyoshi  shall 
employ  such  means  as  lie  within  his  power  to  invoke." 

In  possession,  Hideyoshi's  position  seemed  tenable; 
now,  no  one  knew  better  than  lyeyasu  the  tactics  with 
which  his  adversary  would  gain  an  advantage,  though 
prone  to  make  no  promise  or  engagement  that  he 
should  not  keep.  Nor  did  lyeyasu  let  himself  be 
deceived  as  to  his  own  resources  or  ability.  True  he 
had  won  a  great  victory  over  Hideyoshi,  had  taught 
him  to  know  that  willing  and  doing  are  two  very 
different  terms,  and  that  gods  ready-made  or  self- 
devised  are  alike  amenable  to  the  unflinching  laws  of 
inevitableness,  but  would  not  budge  his  ground,  Hide 
yoshi's  resources  or  Yodogima's  failure  to  the  con 
trary  notwithstanding. 

Yet  he  must  do  something,  either  push  forward  or 
lose  the  vantage  gained.  What  was  it  that  stirred 
within  and  would  not  let  him  dismiss  an  only  alter 
nating  thought: 

"Compromise?" 

"No,  no;  lyeyasu  could  not  do  that;  but  —  conn- 
dence!  now  T  have  it;  I'll  trust  somebody  —  Esyo! 
she  shall  hear  Yodogimu  speak  the  word,  will  tell  me 
the  truth;  confidence  and  not  compromise,  therefore, 
is  the  final  arbiter  of  our  destiny.  Then  why  doubt, 
why  have  I  doubted  Yodogima?  Xo;  it  is  my  short- 


96  YODOGIMA 

sightedness  and  not  her  faithlessness  that  has  caused 
me  all  these  bitter  misunderstandings ;  she  will  approve 
me  right,  and  I  shall  prove  her  mine." 

Slow  with  inception  but  quick  to  apprehend,  lye- 
yasu's  energies  once  kindled  burned  with  a  vigor  and 
a  glow  as  refreshing  and  as  inspiring  as  waiting  had 
been  portentous.  He  would  have  it  settled  once  and 
for  all  that  his  love  had  not  been  misplaced,  and  that 
he  himself  were  the  rightful  suitor:  Hideyoshi,  but  a 
mongrel  pretender,  an  empty  claimant. 

"Go  to  Yodogima,  and  get  her  answer,  if  this 
monkey-faced  deceiver  would  yet  know  that  she  is  a 
princess,  worthy  a  prince's  love,"  commanded  he,  of 
Esyo  —  as  she,  and  Jokoin,  departed  upon  their  mis 
sion,  as  arranged,  under  a  truce,  of  sufficient  length  — 
no  doubt  whatsoever  in  his  mind  as  to  what  that  word 
should  be. 

The  two  sisters  proceeded  toward  Azuchi,  together 
and  unhampered,  united  in  their  great  expectations 
but  widely  divergent  upon  lesser  grounds,  those  of 
apprehension.  Esyo  reasoned  that  Yodogima  must 
say  "No,"  and  by  so  doing  relieve  her  of  the  necessity 
for  devising  an  untruth;  Hideyoshi  had  sent  Jokoin 
along  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  make  sure  the 
delivery  of  the  answer  he,  too,  believed  Yodogima 
should  return.  Jokoin  anticipated  alone  the  boredom 
of  that  to  her  way  of  thinking  needless  journey,  for 
how  could  a  princess,  her  own  sister,  so  spoil  a  good 
prospect  by  saying  anything  but  "Yes"? 

They  had  arrived  now,  and  Yodogima  received  them 


YODOGIMA  97 

in  her  boudoir  —  still  open  at  the  rear  and  overlook 
ing  the  narrow  lowland,  butting  up  against  a  somber 
woods  that  covered  a  steep  rising  hillside  beyond  — 
yet  it  was  growing  late.  There  was  no  one  to  disturb 
them ;  Oyea  had  withdrawn  to  her  own  desolate  cham 
ber,  apprehensive  but  resigned.  Yodogima  sat  facing 
the  dark  of  nightland.  Jokoin  at  once  became  spokes 
man  ;  she  could  not  wait.  Esyo  held  no  interest  in 
the  gathering  portent  without,  nor  did  she  betray  a 
conscious  thought  of  things  more  ominous  within. 
The  clouds  hung  low  and  the  air  around  dulled  against 
the  dead  monotony  of  dawning  sleep,  over-borne  and 
unrelated  save  as  lettered  against  nature's  unfathomed 
deep  by  myriads  of  changing,  ever-noiseless  fire-flies. 

"Come  reason  with  me,  with  you  and  with  him, 
verily  the  God-truth  to  know,"  pleaded  Yodogima, 
-Hently,  of  the  great,  fathomless  unreality  lying  just 
beyond,  always  ahead,  alluringly  beckoning,  yet  so 
disparagingly  mute. 

"Really,  one  might  think  you  lost  in  dreamland," 
ventured  Jokoin,  after  waiting  some  seconds,  patiently, 
perhaps,  because  quite  satisfied. 

"Not  dreaming,  but  coaxing,"  replied  Esyo,  "and 
were  I  in  Yodogima's  place  I  should  do  more  than 
that ;  I  should  take  the  matter  into  my  own  hands,  and 
answer  as  reason  might  dictate." 

"Sister!"  cried  Yodogima.  "Would  you,  truly, 
deny  your  God,  to  satisfy  vanity  —  and  know  him?" 

"I  should  do  the  most  sensible  thing  under  the  cir- 


98  YODOGIMA 

cumstances :  you  have  my  deepest  sympathy,  Yodo 
gima/'  continued  Esyo. 

"And,  what  is  more,  I  have  confidence  in  you," 
replied  Yodogima. 

"Well,  I  suppose,  I'm  not  in  it,  then,"  suggested 
Jokoin. 

Neither  sister  answered ;  Esyo  found  it  enough  to 
resist  expressing  some  sort  of  feeling,  and  Yodogima 
no  longer  interested  only  in  the  voiceless  heavens, 
pondered  the  possibilities  of  lyeyasu's  proposed  en 
counter.  Nor  could  she  quite  bring  herself  to  trust 
probability,  for  had  not  Hideyoshi  once  vanquished 
the  great  Mondo,  outwitted  Kemotsu?  What  if  her 
lover  should  meet  with  a  worse  fate,  and  that,  too, 
only  for  her? 

"No,"  said  she,  to  herself ;  "it  must  not  be." 

Then  the  chance  of  his  winning  began  to  take  hold, 
and  her  pulses  tingled,  and  the  spirit  verge  spoke  in 
the  voice  of  an  ancestor : 

"Yes,"  whispered  she,  inaudibly,  though  the  fire 
shone  from  Her  eyes  as  it  had  a  Taira's  ages  ago. 

Esyo  paled  at  the  thought :  Jokoin  bounded  up,  pro 
posing: 

"Shall  I  shout  it  aloud,  sister?" 

"Jokoin !"  commanded  Esyo ;  how  can  you  so  pro 
fane  things?  Yodogima  has  not  yet  invoked  under 
standing:  neither  flesh  nor  spirit  alone  satisfies  con 
science." 

For  the  moment  Yodogima  seemingly  forgot  the 
terrible  test  that  raged  and  calmed  alternately  within. 


YODOi'.lMA  99 

Facing  Esyo,  and  penetrating  with  only  a  glance  the 
thin  gauze  veiling  a  sister's  underlying  purpose,  Yodo- 
gima  said,  complacently,  though  firmly : 

"One  would  think  this  solely  a  matter  of  yours, 
Esyo.  Possibly  you  had  best  answer  instead,  that  I 
may  learn  also  your  pleasure;  and,  perchance,  the 
motive." 

Esyo  flushed,  and  Yodogima  read  her  as  written. 

"Come  closer,  Jokoin;  I  want  to  feel  the  warmth 
and  cheer  of  your  presence;  it  is  an  inspiration,  if  not 
a  reason :  Esyo  is  so  cold ;  oh,  so  unsatisfying,  yet  also 
inspiring.  Between  the  two  of  you  1  am  thrust  back 
upon  heart,  and  shall  answer  neither  'yes'  nor  'no.' 
Let  them  fight,  if  they  will,  but  tell  them,  both  alike, 
that  they  are  men :  that  Yodogima  shall  let  neither  one 
answer  to  his  God  for  a  mistake  of  hers.  It  is  a 
woman's  province  to  bear  and  not  to  succor  man. 
Good-bye,  and  when  you  have  need  for  comfort  and 
less  to  know  then  come  again ;  I  love  you  both." 


too  YODOGTMA 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  resolving  in  her  own  mind  of  a  determina 
tion  so  vital  to  herself,  to  her  lover,  and  to 
others  with  whom  she  had  to  do,  had  driven  Yodo- 
gima  well  nigh  unto  the  brink  of  distraction.  She 
respected  the  rights  of  all,  loved  as  only  in  truth  she 
could,  and  held  self  above  the  unlettered  reach  of  per 
sonal  prowess  alone;  the  community  had  dawned, 
laid  claim  to  its  higher  purpose,  and  held  her  like  a 
moth  lured  thither  to  the  candle  fire.  She  would  not 
preach  the  latter,  could  not  practice  the  former,  hence 
fell  back  upon  impulse  as  an  only  guide. 

"Let  them  fight,"  repeated  she,  when  alone  and 
reflecting,  "the  one  ambitious  and  the  other  uncertain ; 
I  would  be  neither,  and  justice  will  be  done  —  but,  is 
not  he  my  God  ?  What  other  hope  ?  Forgive  me  !" 

Presently  Oyea  came  to  her. 

"You  did  right,  Yodogima,  and  he  shall  understand, 
if  such  be  meet;  and  who  can  better  judge  than  he? 
What  of  the  fathers,  of  tradition,  of  —  " 

"Hush-sh-sh  —  it  seems  to  me  I  hear  a  voice  —  no, 
no ;  it  is  only  he ;  my  God,  my  Due :  I  am  mindful  of 
—  Obedience." 

Upon  receipt  of  her  declaration,  lyeyasu  forthwith 
charged  Yodogima  with  unfaithfulness;  he  believed 
now  that  Hideyoshi  had  found  it  possible  only  through 
her  to  checkmate  his  every  move  to  reach  and  liberate 


YODOGIM  A  ;  I6i 

her,  had  moved  upon  him  thus  prematurely  but  to 
•viti-fy  a  wavering  ambition  of  hers.  Esyo  seemed  not 
of  sufficient  consequence  to  arouse  in  him  any  appre 
hension  from  that  source;  her  last  protestations  ap 
peared  to  be  reasonable  enough  in  view  of  Jokoin's 
passive  assent,  and  without  looking  behind  the  scenes 
to  discern  any  better  reason  further  for  assuming 
individual  risk,  at  once  set  himself  about  to  exact  the 
best  terms  obtainable. 

Love  had  been  the  one  thing  to  swerve  him,  and  to 
disturb  the  plan  that  he  had  evolved  earlier  in  life  to 
build  up  and  round  out  an  existence  both  useful  and 
to  the  purpose :  he  would  have  no  more  of  it.  Hide- 
yoshi,  on  the  other  hand,  had  indulged  only  as  conveni 
ence  or  policy  dictated,  hence  came  to  look  upon  virtue 
as  a  ruling  passion:  made  it  the  goal  and  not  his 
guide. 

"You  are  at  liberty  to  name  the  terms,"  urged  Hide- 
yoshi,  upon  Jyeyasu,  more  in  irony  than  of  earnest; 
no  longer  doubtful  about  the  latter's  attitude,  toward 
Yodogima. 

"I  want  neither  women  nor  wealth ;  they  are  alike 
fatal  to  government,"  retorted  lyeyasu,  neither  heed 
less  nor  unready. 

"Oh,  very  well ;  we  shall  omit  the  latter,  if  you  like, 
but  the  former  are  indispensable,  I  take  it;  however, 
one  or  so  more  or  less  doesn't  matter  much,  to  me ; 
besides,  you  may  change  your  mind :  Hideyoshi  can 
then  the  better  supply  you :  my  collection  is  not  a  mean 
one  —  " 


102  YODOGIMA 

"And  your  mother  a  good  enough  security.  What 
say  you  to  that,  bickerer?" 

"It  is  agreeable :  you  can  have  her,  as  hostage,  of 
course." 

''Hardly  for  another  purpose,  as  a  matter  of  choice ; 
knowing  her  son,  as  I  do." 

"There  are  worse  mothers  —  you  will  not  deny  her 
the  comfort  of  a  daughter,  my  sister  Saji?" 

"I  can  relieve  you  as  well  of  her  support,  if  that  is 
any  object." 

''Thanks.  She  may  not  seem  extravagant  to  lye- 
yasu.  And,  you  might  not  dislike,  also,  Jokoin,  my 
recently  adopted  daughter?" 

"Perhaps  I  had  better  take,  instead,  Esyo,  and  make 
an  end  of  it." 

"As  you  like;  Hideyoshi  is  not  over  nice,  or  particu 
lar,  or  exacting." 

"And  lyeyasu  wants  nothing  not  bargained  for,  and 
takes  no  less." 

"We  shall  see,"  replied  Hideyoshi,  satisfied  with 
the  deal,  and  anxious  to  put  it  to  the  test  without 
further  parley  or  encumbrance. 

Hideyoshi  forthwith  produced  as  hostage  his  mother, 
Naka,  accompanied  by  her  daughter,  Saji,  apparently 
to  keep  her  company,  and  by  Esyo,  whose  presence, 
already  assured,  served  no  better  her  purpose  than 
Hideyoshi's  pleasurable  riddance  if  not  her  sister  Yo- 
dogima's  more  respectful  quest.  In  consideration  of  the 
security  tendered,  lyeyasu  agreed  henceforth  only  to 


YODOG1MA  103 

recognize  Hideyoshi  as  supreme  at  Kyoto,  the  capital : 
Hideyoshi,  as  usual,  made  no  promises. 

Returning  to  Azuchi,  word  forthwith  spread  of 
Ilideyoshi's  wonderful  success;  he  had  demonstrated 
the  potency  of  diplomacy  as  against  the  cruelties  of 
war  —  true  no  one  knew  quite  the  terms  of  their  alli 
ance,  except  they  themselves,  and  seemingly  neither 
one  had  gained  an  ostensible  advantage,  save,  perhaps, 
lyeyasu ;  who,  as  was  patent,  held  the  highest  possible 
hostage,  yet  for  what  none  surmised ;  or,  as  events 
proved,  really  cared.  Nobody's  domain  had  been 
depleted  or  augmented,  and  lyeyasu's  prestige  gained 
by  the  battle  won  remained  unquestioned ;  he  had 
never  disputed  Hideyoshi's  supremacy  at  Kyoto,  hence 
could  not  be  charged  with  losing  anything  by  recog 
nizing  that.  On  the  other  hand,  Hideyoshi  carried 
with  him  the  odium  of  defeat  in  battle,  against  which 
the  successes  of  so  little  known  an  agency  as  diplomacy 
would  not  have  counted  for  much  had  he  not  again 
looked  ahead  into  the,  to  him,  truly  inexhaustible  un 
known,  there  discerning  still  a  newer  and  more  effect 
ive  builder,  publicity. 

The  money,  therefore,  that  lyeyasu  might  have 
exacted  as  tribute  was  at  once  put  to  a  better  use, 
and  the  women,  whose  influence  he  preferred  to  de 
spise,  were  not  at  all  slow  with  experiencing  some 
change  of  heart,  if  not  of  grasping  at  real  opportunity. 
Yodogima  held  steadfast  to  her  purpose.  Oyea  might 
have  been  pardoned  for  a  growing  conviction  that  her 
lord  ruled  right  in  any  circumstance  and  that,  perhaps, 


104  YODOGIMA 

Yodogima  were,  after  all,  a  bit  ungrateful ;  but  others 
less  disappointing  and  with  more  to  gain  eagerly  out 
bid  themselves  to  do  his  reverence  honor  —  Grace  of 
Tango,  daughter  of  Akechi  Mitsuhide  and  wife  to 
Hosokawa  Tadaoki,  cast  her  jewels  into  the  fund  that 
was  forming  to  bid  Hideyoshi  enter  the  capital  as  a 
god  no  less  than  laurel  crowned. 

The  monks  of  Negoro  were  crushed,  the  South  sub 
dued,  and  the  exalted  office  of  Kwambaku  (Regent) 
was  conferred  upon  him,  by  no  less  an  authority  than 
the  mikado  himself  —  Yoshiaki,  the  deposed  shogun, 
refused  to  adopt  the  lowly-born  Hideyoshi,  as  re 
quested,  thus  enabling  him  to  be  declared  shogun ; 
Katsutoya  still  remained  at  large. 

From  a  huge  platform  at  Kyoto  great  treasure  was 
distributed,  and  the  barons  bended  their  knees :  from 
far  and  near  they  came,  women  clamored  for  admis 
sion  to  his  court,  but  there  was  one  who  looked  deeper 
than  affectation;  either  upheld  or  condemned,  as  in 
wardly  judged ;  and  Hideyoshi,  if  none  other,  revered 
her  for  it,  made  her  his  goddess,  and  worshipped 
thence  at  mercy's  will. 

"Tell  me,  Yodogima,  what  is  it  I  can  do  to  sever  the 
heart-strings  that  bind  you  to  another?  I  am  not  de 
ceived." 

<;Then  you  are  not  a  god  :  I  thought  you  invincible  ?" 

lyeyasu  had  settled  down  to  the  rebuilding  of  his 
fortunes  at  home,  apparently  content  that  he  had  not 
been  shorn  of  his  estate,  had  gained  the  prestige  of  a 
victory  won  at  arms  —  a  thing  hitherto  wholly  unre- 


YODOGIMA  105 

no \vnecl  for  —  and  that  Yodogima  no  longer  appeared 
to  weigh  in  the  scales  of  duty  or  ambition ;  Esyo  had 
doctored  up  his  conscience  on  that  score  as  best  she 
could,  and  results  proved  her  no  mean  attendant;  but 
there  was  one  thing  that  disturbed  him:  How  could 
Hideyoshi  make  so  much  capital  out  of  so  little  gained  ? 

After  all,  had  he  not  underestimated  the  potency 
of  money  as  shown  in  the  resolving  of  publicity,  so 
new,  save  only  to  Hideyoshi,  yet  apparently  more  vital 
in  the  attainment  of  power  to  do  than  was  character 
essential  or  determinate  when  once  invoked  or  ac 
cepted  ? 

It  may  have  been  some  dawning  eagerness  on  his 
part  to  recoup  his  loss  in  that  direction,  or  to  take 
advantage  in  the  future  of  Hideyoshi's  now  more  than 
ever  patent  initiative,  or  it  may  have  been  a  growing 
distrust  of  or  resulting  dislike  for  Esyo,  and  his  vain 
though  unstudied  attempt  to  rid  himself  of  the  one  by 
leaning  toward  another:  whatever  the  cause,  lyeyasu 
became  more  and  more  reconciled  to  the  presence,  if 
not  the  advances,  of  Saji:  she  did  make  advances, 
though  innocent  enough  and  wholly  legitimate  on  her 
part.  Hideyoshi  knew.  Xor  was  any  opportunity 
neglected  to  let  those  little  surmisings  reach  and  sear 
the  trend  of  another's  confidence,  yet  Yodogima's  love 
for  lyeyasu  flamed  on ;  faith,  hope,  and  charity 
rounded  out  the  dull  monotony  of  neglected  oppor 
tunity,  making  life  to  her  after  all  worth  the  living, 
the  striving,  and  the  getting. 

''He  is  mine,"  whispered  she,  to  herself,  repeatedly 


io6  YODOGIMA 

pillowing  her  head  upon  an  untouched  but  conscious 
rest. 

<-By  heavens,  I'll  make  him  another's,"  vowed  Hide- 
yoshi,  as  often,  yet  with  no  less  respect. 

All  the  home  provinces  and  every  conceivable  ap 
proach  to  the  capital  now  rested  securely  within  the 
keep  of  Hideyoshi.  The  mikado  subservient  or  cowed, 
and  a  supervisory  authority  exercised  by  himself. 
His  will  alone  the  government,  and  the  nation  fired 
The  populace  coerced,  neighboring  daimyos  whipped, 
and  the  South  in  his  clutch,  there  remained  only  the 
North  as  an  excuse  for  putting  lyeyasu  further  to 
test  and  laying  threadbare  before  her  own  eyes  what 
he  believed  to  be  Yodogima's  last  prospect  there. 

Hojo  of  Odawara  had  not  yet  paid  his  respects  to 
Hideyoshi,  nor  had  Date,  still  farther  to  the  north 
ward,  tendered  submission.  They  were  powerful 
barons,  the  former  fighting  his  way  from  insignifi 
cance  —  really  from  a  merchant  with  a  pack  on  his 
back  —  to  the  lordship  of  five  great  provinces,  the 
Kwanto,  with  a  fortified  castle  at  Odawara,  intrenched 
behind  mountain  gorges  at  the  west  and  the  sea  to 
the  southward :  a  position  hitherto  held  as  impregnable 
as  it  was  desirable.  Date  fared  less  well  as  to  de 
fenses,  lying  largely  in  the  open  and  depending  more 
upon  his  neighbor  Hojo  for  protection  against  the 
West,  but  he  was  none  the  less  rich  and  perhaps  more 
judicious  for  that ;  hence,  the  greater  desired  by  Hide 
yoshi. 

Realizing  that  a  blow  at  Hojo  meant  an  equal  and 


YODOGIMA  107 

a  mutual  response  from  Date,  Tyeyasu  had  good  reason 
under  a  strained  or  liberal  construction  of  the  terms 
and  conditions  of  their  alliance  to  respond  to  Hide- 
yoshi's  call  for  assistance.  The  two  armies  moved  in 
concert  upon  Odawara  —  Hideyoshi  as  aggressor  and 
Tyeyasu  his  support. 

It  was  in  the  springtime,  when  roads  were  open 
and  fain  nature  leaping  forth  in  heart  or  bud.  They 
had  fought  their  way  over  the  summit  and  driven  in 
the  nearest  outpost:  Hojo  entrenched  himself  behind 
the  walls  of  that  castle,  seemingly  safe  without  and 
provisioned  within. 

Hideyoshi  reckoned  differently;  besides,  had  other 
ends  to  gain.  Tyeyasu  awaited  the  advance  patiently, 
but  a  deeper  hold  hung  dangerously  over  him,  grap 
pled  him  and  snarled  him  and  swayed  him,  till  in 
the  end  reason  had  doubted  his  entity. 

Hojo  lay  penned  in.  Date  suspicioned  his  friend's 
inability  to  withstand  the  siege.  lyeyasu  and  others 
under  Hideyoshi's  command  bore  the  delay  somewhat 
indifferently.  Hideyoshi.  of  a  sudden,  in  the  face  of 
war,  inaugurated  the  most  unheard-of  festivities  and 
amid  the  revelries  pursued  his  own  secret  purpose. 

From  the  castle  to  the  sea  spread  the  city,  with  its 
activities  and  its  apprehensions.  To  the  north  and 
west  rose  high  hills,  studded  in  their  lower  slopes 
with  the  luxury  and  the  content  of  higher  living.  Here, 
at  Tshigaki  hill,  well  up  on  the  side  and  overlooking 
the  castle,  in  the  foreground,  Hideyoshi  pitched  his 
tent :  the  army  encamped  here  and  there  throughout 


io8  YODOGIMA 

the  city  and  his  communications  established  there  was 
no  need  he  knew  or  want  devised  that  must  not  heed 
his  will. 

Wide  banquet  floors  were  laid  end  to  end  round  one 
side  the  hill,  roofed  over  with  alternating  sky  and 
bough :  lined  up  in  front  of  white  paper  screens,  serv 
ing  as  well  to  frighten  the  enemy  below  as  to  enter 
tain  the  guests  assembling. 

Large  numbers  of  various  classes,  both  of  nobles 
and  the  samurai,  were  invited  —  Date  among  the 
rest;  who,  for  some  reason,  known  best  to  himself  or 
to  Hideyoshi,  secretly  came,  humbly  awaiting  the 
host's  still  stricter  pleasure.  Geishas,  musicians,  play 
ers,  and  favorites  were  called  in  thousands ;  a  one 
hundred  days'  feast  planned;  lyeyasu  made  an  hono 
rary  host,  and  Yodogima  brought  from  Azuchi  to  do 
him  service. 

Other  barons  had  been  permitted  to  invite  their  wives 
and  their  sweethearts — •  lyeyasu  among  them;  Saji 
served  in  a  polite  way,  if  not  as  a  real  love  —  but 
Hideyoshi,  in  his  higher  capacity,  either  defying 
custom  or  succoring  freedom,  wrote  to  Oyea  granting 
her  only  the  privilege  of  delegating  Yodogima  in  her 
stead. 

"As  next  to  you,"  commanded  he,  "Yodogima  is  my 
favorite :  send  her  along.  You  shall  have  me  at  your 
side  again  when  I  return  from  the  war." 

Yodogima  came;  it  was  her  last  chance,  and  she 
Oyea's  only  hope. 

Dancing  and  singing  and  feasting  had  waned,  the 


YODOGIMA  109 

stars  shone  bright  overhead,  and  entering  Hideyoshi 
and  Yodogima  led  the  way,  seating  themselves,  he  at 
the  head  with  her  at  his  right.  Then  came  lyeyasu 
and  Saji;  who  arranged  at  the  motion  of  Hideyoshi, 
the  former  facing  Yodogima  and  the  latter  himself. 
Others  swarmed  in,  in  like  fashion,  till  the  half -moon 
of  gay  and  happy  nobles  reached  round  on  either  side 
the  hill,  properly  ranked,  beyond  the  sight  or  hearing 
of  those  honored  with  higher  favors.  Low,  weird 
>trains  issued  from  the  half-hidden  platform  in  front 
where  sat  the  players,  grouped  before  rising  ranks  of 
dancers  —  then  posed  and  eager,  now  swaying  and 
relieved  —  banked  against  a  background  of  green  and 
shadow.  The  gods  breathed  sparingly. 

lyeyasu  dared  not  raise  his  eyes  from  the  floor. 
Yodogima  calmly  awaited  some  initiative  on  his  part ; 
etiquet  bade  her  bide  the  pleasure  of  host  or  suitor 
alike.  Xeither  guilt  nor  remorse  weighed  at  all  upon 
her  conscience  as  it  did  heavily  upon  his.  There, 
before  him,  within  reach  of  his  every  faculty,  as  inno 
cent  and  true,  as  sweet,  as  fair,  and  as  appealing  as 
upon  the  day  when  he  had  pledged  himself  to  die  for 
her  —  the  bare  thought  of  having  tolerated  another, 
then  sitting  at  his  side,  deadened  intellect  and  sick 
ened  the  heart. 

"How  can  I  meet  her  look,  return  her  confidence, 
knowing  as  I  do  now  that  it  is  I  and  not  she  who  is 
false?"  asked  he,  of  himself,  till  his  heart  seemed 
breaking  and  his  mind  a  mirage. 

"Perhaps  it  is  too  much,  the  demand  greater  than  a 


no  YODOGIMA 

human  can  endure;  I  should  not  have  come  here," 
reasoned  she,  equally  as  reserved,  if  more  uncon 
cernedly. 

"Beautiful  beyond  comparison,"  appeared  to  be  the 
verdict  of  every  man  or  woman  within  sight  of  her, 
and  the  suspense  but  quickened  their  judgment.  Hide- 
yoshi  gorged  satisfied.  He  had  provided  every  con 
ceivable  device,  no  expense  had  been  spared ;  for  he 
proved  a  lavish  lover,  and  Oyea,  from  motive  or  pride, 
had  neglected  neither  art  nor  attention  to  relieve  and 
heighten  either  charmt  or  form ;  silks  embroidered  and 
blended  to  a  thread,  laces  representing  the  patience 
and  the  labor  of  an  exquisite  design  or  appreciative 
hand,  pearls  priceless  in  cost  and  emblematic  of  a 
disposition  which  at  least  the  donor  had  fathomed,  all 
these  worn  .with  grace,  softened  in  modesty,  and 
inspired  of  eyes  as  keen  as  confiding,  lyeyasu  well 
might  suffer  the  torments  of  a  troubled  conscience  — 
may  have  asked  himself  earnestly  and  regretfully  if 
he  had  not  wronged  her. 

In  her  mind  no  such  thought  had  entered;  she  be 
lieved  herself  in  some  way  responsible  for  his  apparent 
neglect.  Had  she  waned  in  his  estimation?  Were 
Saji  really  more  beautiful,  still  worthier  of  his  admi 
ration,  less  exacting  in  her  appeal  ?  The  blood  rushed 
to  Yodogima's  face,  momentarily  tingeing  the  hitherto 
untroubled  countenance  that  made  her  queen.  Hide- 
yoshi  as  quickly  came  to  her  relief ;  he  should  not  see 
her  overtried.  Proud,  and  observant,  he  would  stake 
his  life,  make  some  sort  of  effort  to  hew  the  way  that 


YODOGIMA  in 

she  might  reign,  resolve  her  proper  place  and  prove 
the  man  whose  worth  alone  might  justify  his  claim. 

"A  toast,  Yodogima  —  I  am  sure  that  lyeyasu  shall 
appreciate  it  —  Saji  might  the  better  serve  Hideyoshi's 
dull  wit,"  suggested  he,  by  way  of  relief. 

Yodogima  raised  the  cup.  She  would  not  disobey, 
nor  would  she  neglect  an  opportunity.  She  believed 
lyeyasu  true,  and  held  him  ready  as  well.  Hideyoshi 
had  granted  her  the  privilege,  and  made  it  possible 
for  lyeasu  to  place  beyond  all  doubt  the  inviolability 
of  their  love. 

Would  he  do  it  ?  Such  a  question  never  entered  her 
mind.  Could  he  ?  She  deemed  him  incapable  of  fail- 
ure.  Hideyoshi  was  as  good  as  his  word,  had  to  her 
proven  himself  beyond  peradventure :  perhaps  it  was 
something  of  triumph  which  prompted  the  words,  it 
might  have  been  a  dawning  bit  of  jealousy  inspiring 
the  thought,  more  likely  it  were  a  prospect  of  truth's 
obtaining  that  urged  the  will  to  claim  its  mastery,  but 
whatever  the  cause,  the  motive  proved  none  the  less 
discernable.  Yodogima  faced  her  lover,  not  exultantly, 
yet  assuringly,  saying: 

"While  climbing  the  hill  of  prosperity,  I  hope  never 
to  meet  you." 

Jyeyasu's  eyes  for  the  first  time  rose  to  hers,  fairly 
and  unflinchingly.  The  old  love  once  again  possessed 
him,  for  the  moment  flared  every  torch,  forced  recog 
nition,  and  the  soul  revealed  its  innermost  secret  - 
Hideyoshi  waited:  possibly  the  mind  waxed  hot,  but 
not  a  hand  trembled.  Then  the  message  itself  began 


ii2  YODOGIMA 

to  claim  attention,  and  directly  the  puzzling  signifi 
cance  of  those  words  dulled  and  gathered  against  a 
waning,  startled  consciousness  till  vanity  bade  lyeyasu 
conjure  no  shameless  thought: 

"What  does  she  mean?"  queried  he,  of  himself, 
looking  from  one  to  another,  the  while  his  eyes  falling 
bewildered  and  helpless  before  the  alternating  gaze  of 
Hideyoshi. 

Yodogima  changed  to  scarlet,  then  whitened;  she 
had  surrendered  life  itself  to  recall  the  words,  perhaps 
too  thoughtlessly  spoken. 

Was  it  charity,  or  revenge,  that  prompted  Hide 
yoshi  ? 

"Coming  down,''  suggested  he,  to  lyeyasu,  no  doubt 
triumphantly,  but  none  the  less  mercifully  —  putting 
into  his  mouth  the  words  that  he  had  floundered  so 
bitterly  to  command  or  riddle. 

Shame  overcame  any  better  impulse,  and  turning 
upon  his  adversary,  lyeyasu  half  whined,  half  scowled : 

"Perhaps  you  yourself  had  best  drink  the  toast." 

"To-morrow,  I  may;  or,  perchance,  it  shall  not  be 
until  the  next  day ;  thank  you,"  replied  Hideyoshi,  not 
the  least  perturbed. 


YODOGIMA  113 


CHAPTER  XIII 

ALL  the  powers  of  earth  could  not  have  tried  the 
princess  more ;  she  realized  now  that  she  had, 
out  of  zeal,  overtaxed  Jyeyasu,  and  in  that  opened  the 
way  for  Hideyoshi  perhaps  successfully  to  pit  a  wit 
against  her  lover's  returning  steadfastness. 

"Oh,  it  isn't  much,  after  all,  and  —  I  can  propose 
another,"  stammered  she,  though  composedly,  in  some 
vain  way  to  stem  the  tide  and  save  still  the  man  she 
adored;  just  why,  she  could  not  tell  nor  would  others 
surmise. 

The  suggestion  fell  cold  upon  lyeyasu's  now 
troubled  conviction ;  he  had  been  outdone  by  a  rival : 
there  was  not  the  slightest  doubt  about  that  in  his 
mind;  lyeyasu  respected  aptness,  even  though  himself 
slow  to  act  Nor  was  he  longer  in  doubt  as  to  Yodo- 
gima's  constancy  or  love;  one  glance  had  convinced 
him  beyond  recalling,  and  he  could  not  have  envied, 
for  he  had  often  said  that  the  secret  of  happiness  lies 
in  kindly  feeling.  Then  what  was  it  that  prompted 
him  quickly  to  answer : 

''Not  to-day,  but  to-morrow?" 

"As  the  princess  likes,"  retorted  Hideyoshi,  his 
admiration  growing  with  quest  and  confidence. 

"More  —  it  is  a  guest's  pleasure,"  commanded  she, 
replacing  the  cup  and  glancing  at  Hideyoshi,  without 


ii4  YODOGIMA 

so  much  as  disturbing  a  visitor  or  confusing  their 
'host. 

That  evening  was  thence  passed  without  further 
incident,  save  an  apparently  growing  discomfiture  on 
Tyeyasu's  part  and  the  corresponding  rise  in  spirit  of 
Hideyoshi ;  who  not  deigning  to  parley  with  Yodogima 
—  he  took  her  at  her  word,  and  prided  himself  in  doing 
so  —  began  resolutely  further  to  carry  out  and  not  to 
forestall.  Yodogima  had  done  her  part,  and  well: 
there  seemed  nothing  more  that  she  could  or  would  do 
to  save  a  waiting  lover ;  she  had  made  it  possible  for 
him  to  claim  her,  and  to  drink  the  draught  that  Hide 
yoshi  himself  should  not  have  questioned,  and  he  had 
failed  to  do  either  —  might  be  as  easily  duped  into  a 
more  fatal  blunder,  made  the  scapegoat  of  his  own 
waiting  or  incapacity,  or  both,  and  the  princess  at  once 
raised  above  his  further  consideration. 

Thus  Hideyoshi  planned  and  lyeyasu  dallied,  per 
haps  dreamed,  and  marvelled  the  audacity,  perchance 
effect,  with  which  Yodogima  commanded,  possibly 
ordered.  The  following  day,  however,  clouded  over 
and  Date  and  Hideyoshi  counselled  and  bantered  till 
early  evening,  when  they  stood  on  the  latter's  suggest 
ively  improvised  ramparts  cogitating  the  plight  of 
Hojo  farther  down  in  the  foreground. 

"You  are  the  greater  man,"  plead  Date,  no  longer 
doubtful  of  Hideyoshi's  resources  or  motive,  "and  I 
am  ready  to  surrender  my  lands  and  do  you  service." 

"Ah ;  then  you  shall  know  what  it  is  to  toast  a  man 
like  Hideyoshi :  to-night  you  shall  sit  next  to  me ;  and, 


YODOGIMA  115 

by  the  way,  face  the  smartest  woman  in  these  parts : 
look  you  well  that  your  tongue  neither  outruns  nor 
belies  the  manner  due  or  occasion  expected." 

At  table  Date,  true  to  conviction  and  in  consonance 
better  with  propriety,  proposed  the  health  of  Hide- 
yoshi,  their  duly  lord  and  henceforth  recognized 
master. 

Flushing  scarlet,  Yodogima  barely  touched  the  cup 
that  stood  tilled  for  another  purpose ;  it  seemed  to  her 
that  lyeyasu,  who  now  sat  at  her  side,  must  intercede, 
should  realize  that  opportunity  were  fast  slipping 
away:  he  only  whitened,  then  drank  the  liquor  as 
prudence  dictated. 

Hideyoshi  smiled,  and  turning  to  Date  attempted 
their  present  relief  by  suggesting,  bluntly: 

"The  princess  reserves  discreetly  her  response  till 
occasion  more  pleasantly  affords;  lyeyasu  may  yet 
drink  with  a  better  color,  if  not  more  grace." 

The  next  day,  in  consequence,  brought  with  it  a 
train  of  circumstances  as  swift  as  it  had  been  unex 
pected —  to  all  except,  perhaps,  Hideyoshi.  Matsuda, 
Hojo's  main  reliance,  had  succumbed,  not  to  valor  but 
to  gold,  and  that  night  his  master's  head  graced  a  place 
at  table  —  opposite  to  lyeyasu :  who  now,  once  more, 
faced  at  greater  distance  Yodogima,  but  entertained 
as  before,  close  at  hand,  Saji,  in  whom  the  now  startled 
and  cringing  daimyo  from  Mikawa  may  have  found 
some  little  consolation,  if  not  a  rising  prospect. 

"Let  us  now  listen  to  Saji ;  it  may  prove  to  be  not 
only  her  fair  due,  but  our  most  agreeable  opportunity," 


ii6  YODOGIMA 

commanded  Hideyoshi,  in  great  liberality,  as  it  ap 
peared  to  others,  yet  with  a  hidden  earnestness  that 
neither  Yodogima  nor  lyeyasu  mistook. 

Saji  did  as  bid;  it  seemed  quite  immaterial  to  her: 
all  the  heart  that  God  had  really  given  her  had  long 
ago  been  drilled  or  tooled  away,  for  Hideyoshi  be 
lieved  in  duty  —  ruled  or  reasoned  to  preach  and  prac 
tice  down  or  up  as  convenience  less  necessity  required, 
lyeyasu  turned  red. 

A  growing,  pitiless  consciousness  began  to  take 
hold  on  Yodogima's  hitherto  buoyant,  confiding  trust. 
The  very  mat  on  which  the  princess  sat  seemed  sink 
ing  or  rising  as  the  moments  flew  or  lingered.  Alter 
nating  flashes  left  her  undetermined.  Heaven  or 
worse  had  been  a  relief :  Hideyoshi  angered  for  once, 
and  for  the  first  time  looked  his  rival  straight  in  the 
face.  lyeyasu's  eyes  fell  to  the  significant  fright 
across  the  table.  Yodogima's  look  then  had  strength 
ened  him,  but  he  dare  not  meet  her  gaze. 

''Saji,  Saji,"  mumbled  he,  half  conscious,  half  ap- 
pealingly. 

She  only  smiled,  but  the  dead  lips  of  Hojo  moved 
him: 

"My  wife,  gentlemen,  my  wife!" 

Yodogima  had  been  spared  the  sight  of  Hideyoshi's 
gruesome  lesson :  likewise  she  had  been  denied  its  con 
solation  ;  yet  she  could  believe  lyeyasu's  vain  resolution 
no  less  than  final,  if  not  voluntary.  And  it  may  have 
been  so.  Like  examples  had  been  flaunted  in  the  face 
of  others  less  capable  or  worthy,  had  been  used  time 


YODOGIMA  117 

and  again  by  men  more  considerate,  if  as  determined, 
but  never  before  might  the  charge  of  cruelty  be  laid 
at  the  door  of  Hideyoshi ;  who  had  suffered  Shibata 
the  right  of  honorable  demise,  spared  Shimadzu  the 
loss  of  his  ancestral  name,  and  let  lyeyasu  more  than 
once  slip  any  fate  that  he  might  have  chosen,  still 
Hojo's  head  must  adorn  a  sorrowful  plight. 

And  why  ? 

The  princess  did  not  stop  to  inquire ;  she  knew  only 
that  she  had  suffered  perhaps  at  their  expense  or  for 
their  betterment,  and  the  very  heavens  above  seemed 
bereft  —  earth  had  done  its  worst,  the  humanities 
failed,  all  their  Gods  and  Buddhas  and  Christs  prom 
ised  relief  only  in  death  —  save  a  certain  star,  that 
seemed  the  brighter  in  its  loneliness :  ideality  proffered 
life. 

Thereafter  Hideyoshi  summoned  lyeyasu  to  the  top 
of  a  certain  hill  overlooking  the  fortress,  the  city,  and 
the  country  around. 

"You  perceive,"  suggested  the  former,  "that  the 
Kwanto  is  mine." 

"Y-e-s,"  stuttered  lyeyasu,  his  mind  far  distant. 

"You  know  that  I  am  master,  hereabouts,  I  take  it?" 

"Yes." 

"Then  I  shall  give  you  these  provinces,  in  consid 
eration  of  —  your  services." 

"What  luck!" 

"Where  will  you  live?"  inquired  Hideyoshi,  still 
more  suggestively. 

lyeyasu   again   hesitated.     He  had   set   Yodogima 


n8  YODOGIMA 

aside  and  accepted  Saji  out  of  respect  for  a  well- 
grounded  belief,  had  invoked  self-denial  to  the  point 
of  distraction,  and  bought  peace  at  the  cost  of  man 
hood,  but  to  surrender  a  birthright  and  abandon  every 
defense  seemed  more  than  he  could  do,  even  in  the 
face  of  rigid  necessity.  This  man  then  would  rule  and 
not  ruin.  Had  Yodogima  judged  him  more  accurately 
than  he  had  dpne  ?  Would  she  succeed  ?  Pride  urged 
him  now,  forced  the  aggressive,  hence  prompted  him 
to  answer: 

"At  Odawara." 

"No.  I  know  a  place,  farther  away,  called  Yedo 
(Tokio).  There  is  where  you  shall  live." 

"Very  well,  my  lord,"  replied  lyeyasu,  determined 
now,  whereas  before  he  had  provokingly  waited. 


YODOGiMA  119 


CHAPTER  XIV 

IN  the  meantime  there  had  developed  within  the 
ranks,  and  outside  as  well,  no  inconsiderable 
speculation  as  to  what  further  to  expect.  Hitherto 
Hideyoshi  had  found  ample  employment  for  all  his 
talents;  from  the  beginning  it  had  been  one  constant, 
absorbing  grind,  but  now  that  all  the  barons  worth 
the  while  had  been  subdued,  the  last  man  who  could  in 
any  manner  check  or  hinder  him  apparently  disposed 
with,  he  more  restless  than  ever,  Hojo  made  an  ex 
ample  of,  and  Yodogima  undoubtedly  his  keep,  they 
might  well  conjecture. 

Already  some  ugly  rumors  had  started,  and  circu 
lated  (Esyo  came  and  went  at  leisure),  causing  Yodo 
gima  to  ponder,  no  less  made  the  master  furious. 

"Eigh?  A  subordinate  question  his  superior?  Cru 
cify  the  culprit,"  commanded  he,  intending  quite  an 
other  example. 

"No,"  interposed  Yodogima,  complacently. 

"Well,"  replied  Hideyoshi,  to  the  officer,  after  a 
moment's  reflection,  "as  the  villain  did  not  utter  the 
speech  in  my  presence  you  may  instead  cut  off  his 
head." 

"No,"  repeated  Yodogima,  more  positively. 

"Ah,"  ventured  Hideyoshi,  vainly  cogitating  some 
sort  of  excuse,  "seeing  he  is  a  samurai,  you  had  better 
tell  him  to  commit  hirikara." 


120  YODOGIMA 

"No,"  commanded  Yodogima,  now  wholly  conscious. 

"Promote  him,  then,  for  having  done  me  a  service," 
directed  he,  still  set  upon  some  voice  in  the  matter. 

"Not  you,  but  me,"  retorted  Yodogima,  now  fully 
determined  upon  her  part. 

"Why  you;  I  am  master,  am  I  not?" 

"Not  of  me;  and,  I  am  going  to  see  that  you  prove 
yourself  something  more  than  a  head-chopper." 

"You  have  heard?" 

"Yes;  Esyo  just  now  told  me  all  about  it." 

"Women  will  talk,"  sighed  Hideyoshi,  mindful  of  a 
hundred  battle  fields,  and  no  one  woman  that  he  had 
ever  conquered. 

"And  I'll  show  you  that  they  can  do  more,"  threat 
ened  she,  without  a  change  to  suggest  an  advantage. 

Yodogima  had  taken  desperate  chances  in  calling 
Hideyoshi  to  account  as  done,  but  she  had  studied  him 
well  and  believed  herself  capable  —  not  that  she 
might  have  need  to  combat  any  mean  advantage ;  but 
gossip,  vain  assumption,  had  compelled  now  the  asser 
tion  and  maintenance  of  a  womanhood;  which  other 
wise  had  not  been  questioned. 

Hitherto  Hideyoshi  had  been  held  as  interested  only 
in  the  affairs  of  men,  wholly  absorbed  with  the  mak 
ing  and  unmaking  of  fortune  or  fortunes  so  distant 
and  neglectful  of  any  influence  that  women  might  bring 
to  bear  that  none  had  essayed  to  do  more  than  serve 
and  chatter  for  centuries;  but  now,  that  he  had  so 
overstepped  the  bounds  of  conventional  warfare  as  to 
indulge  effeminate  pastimes  and  cringe  in  the  presence 


YODOG1MA  121 

of  a  princess,  he  himself  might  be  excused  and  she 
most  surely  condemned. 

lyeyasu,  even,  who  knew  in  his  own  heart,  looked 
upon  Yodogima's  heroic  stand  as  more  the  result  of 
sustained  loyalty  than  innate  purity. 

"And  that  loyalty  will  preserve  her,  as  self-denial 
is  to  be  the  making  of  me,"  muttered  he,  to  himself, 
as  the  preparations  for  his  submissive  removal  pro 
gressed  :  that,  from  a  rich  and  populous  estate,  where 
men  had  learned  to  love  and  respect  him  from  child 
hood,  would  sacrifice  their  lives  and  their  energies  to 
defend  him,  to  a  new,  and  a  strange,  and  an  isolated 
keep,  where  disorder,  dissatisfaction,  and  crude  and 
crumbling  walls  abounded :  that,  too,  with  only  a  body 
guard,  his  Saji,  and  the  vain,  if  not  unscrupulous, 
Esyo  to  accompany  him. 

And  as  the  little  straggling  band  marched  away, 
harboring  its  jealousies,  it  may  be  revenge,  certainly 
its  ambitions,  Yodogima  turned  from  them  in  compas 
sion —  her  heart  seemed  breaking,  but  duty  rallied  to 
the  call  of  pride,  and  she  forgave  him,  perchance 
tried  to  forget. 

Esyo  could  not  be  so  easily  dismissed;  her  parting 
words  had  lingered,  now  roused  in  Yodogima  to  the 
full  some  comprehension  of  what  her  father  meant  in 
turning  her  out  threateningly  in  the  company  of  two 
seemingly  lovable  and  harmless  sisters.  His  guidance 
and  protection  had  been  a  world  to  her  now,  that  she 
had,  as  she  alone  believed,  reaped  the  fullest  measure 
of  bitterness,  wherein  (lod  has  endowed  that  man  shall 


122  YODOGIMA 

covet.  Charms  had  been  easily  flung  at  them,  Esyo's 
hinted  admonition  seized  upon  with  avidity,  and  the 
body  sacrificed  upon  the  altar  of  rapacity,  but  the 
spirit  rebelled  and  held  her  fast  in  its  higher  reach. 

"Perhaps,  Yodogima,  the  bushida  might  afford  you, 
as  it  did  our  father,  some  really  honorable  means." 

Those  words  welled  up  and  rimmed  over  in  Yodo- 
gima's  heart,  as  molten  lava  heaves  and  lips  and  in 
flows  at  the  crater's  edge.  Esyo,  a  sister,  had  de 
nounced  her,  but  something  within,  a  promise  some 
where,  sustained  her,  roused  her  to  a  deeper,  broader 
sense  of  duty  than  she  could  conjure  forth  of  self- 
effacement.  Then  Jokoin  came,  and  only  her  pres 
ence  had  made  it  seem  once  more  as  if  earth  truly  held 
some  fair  portion,  but  her  counsel,  too,  seemed  empty, 
even  blasphemous. 

''Christ  is  our  redeemer;  He  died  to  save  us;  I  am 
confessed;  hallelujah!"  shouted  Jokoin,  happy  and 
careless,  if  unmindful. 

"Sister!  You  shock  me.  Have  you  forgotten  our 
father?" 

"'Oh,  he's  alright ;  he  didn't  know ;  the  new  religion 
takes  'em  all.  Repent  and  be  saved;  quarrel  and 
separate ;  divorce  and  —  do  you  know,  they  allow  man, 
big  men,  only  one  wife  at  a  time;  firstary,  secondary, 
or  multipary?  That's  something!" 

"I  do  believe  you  are  losing  your  mind,  Jokoin." 

"That's  nothing;  go  to  Bungo;  they're  half  daffy 
there;  and,  they  say,  Hideyoshi,  himself,  would  have 
accepted  Christianity  were  it  not  for  giving  up  the 


YODOGIMA  123 

idea  of  more  wives  than  one.  I  guess,  though,  he's  a 
stickler  on  that  —  perhaps,  come  to  think,  you  may 
know  better  than  I?" 

"I  know  my  own  mind ;  and  that  is  more  than  it 
would  seem  —  there,  Tokoin ;  it  is  enough ;  let  us  be 
sisters  —  T  presume  there  is  nothing  against  that,  in 
your  religion?" 

"Really,  I  haven't  inquired :  the  priests  will  know  — 
however,  we  might  just  sort  of  hang  out  that  way; 
it's  an  elastic  affair,  this  Christian  religion,  whatever 
else." 

Withal  her  newfangled  notions  and  queer  manner 
isms,  Yodogima  found  this  little  sister  most  stimulat 
ing  and  satisfying  to  know  and  to  cling  to,  however 
trying  or  unreasonable.  Each,  it  is  true,  had  an  ideal 
of  her  own,  quite  as  distinct  and  appealing  to  its  pos 
sessor,  as  Esyo's  had  been  to  her,  yet  neither  one  had 
stooped  to  attain,  nor  would  she.  Jokoin  had  become 
a  Christian  because  it  pleased  her  to  do  so :  its  revela 
tion  had  resolved  more  the  humorous  than  serious, 
the  human  and  not  the  divine.  A  half  century  of 
struggle  and  martyrdom  had  proven,  if  anything,  in 
their  minds,  that  the  Christian  church,  like  all  others, 
were  but  a  means  to  an  end  :  that  God  alone  is  supreme 
—  substitution  or  addition  or  usurpation  a  dangerous, 
designed,  fleeting  makeshift. 

All  these  creeds  had  been  threshed  out  in  competi 
tion  and  with  vengeance  —  none  had  spared  life  or 
property  —  and  yet  it  seemed  to  Yodogima  that  she 
be  saved:  saved  in  accordance  with  precepts 


i24  YODOGIMA 

established  and  of  a  danger  that  to  her  were  more 
than  death  or  salvation,  or  both,  however  atoned  or 
attuned.  She  must  live,  she  must  do,  and  in  that 
attain :  in  her  prayer  she  asked  for  power  and  not  for 
ransom. 

The  whole  camp  now  enlivened  with  bustle  and 
drive ;  each  of  the  captains  had  been  assigned  his  por 
tion  or  placed  most  advantageously,  in  their  distribu 
tions  and  allotments,  and  great  preparations  were 
making  for  the  leave-taking  —  some  heart-rending, 
others  in  good  cheer.  Most  of  Hideyoshi's  leaders 
shared  lyeyasu's  former  possessions,  but  Gamo  Uji- 
sata,  one  of  Jokoin's  recently  ardent  admirers  —  Taki- 
yama  had  been  sooner  banished  to  Kaga  —  without 
leave  or  let,  on  her  part,  was  set  down  at  Aizu,  in 
the  cold  far  north. 

"Never  mind,  Jokoin,"  promised  Hideyoshi,  upon 
her  remonstrance;  "you  shall  have  left  Ishida,  and, 
perchance,  another,  or  some  others,  I  fear  too  much 
a  mask  for  hypocracy :  with  them,  you  should  be  able 
to  make  out,  if  not  capture  the  empire." 

"What  a  bunch !"  replied  Jokoin,  sorely  abashed. 

"Well,  then,  suppose  you  include  your  humble  — 
ahem !" 

"An  old  dried-up  man  like  you?  I  had  rather 
try-" 

"Kyogoku?" 

"Yes;  smart  Alex;  he  has  left  a  bit  of  ginger,  if 
not  as  much  audacity  as  —  some  others." 

"Oho,  aha ;  I  can,  perhaps,  also,  place  him." 


YODOGIMA  125 

"Not  on  your  life." 

"I  wonder." 

"I  don't;  I've  a  sister." 

"So,  so;  and  two  of  them.  It's  a  pretty  nest  or 
nests,  or  something  they  build  —  I'm  building.  Hide- 
yoshi !  Whipped  every  man  in  Japan,  that's  worth  the 
trouble,  and  three  will-o'-the-wisps  would  set  up  house 
keeping  on  results.  Esyo  denies  me,  Jokoin  defies  me, 
and  Yodogima  —  you  can  go,  young  lady ;  you  and 
I  couldn't  quarrel,  should  we  try;  but,  remember,  a 
bird  in  the  hand  is  worth  two  in  the  bush  —  I  wonder, 
is  Yodogima  in  a  better  mood?" 

"Don't  do  so  much  wondering.  Just  try  your  luck. 
You  ought  to  know  how." 

"I  do;  I  do;  I'll  vow,  you've  made  a  new  man  of 
me." 

"And  you've  made  me  happy.     What's  the  use  — 
the  priests :  the  exiles  —  " 

"There,  now ;  run  along ;  love  and  law  —  edicts  must 
be  obeyed.  Hang  the  villains ;  the  bonzes  were  a  bless 
ing;  treachery  is  damnation!" 

Jokoin  left  him,  standing  in  a  rage;  she  knew  very 
well  that  he  was  then  on  the  way  to  plead  his  own 
cause  in  very  different  terms,  if  not  with  less  success 
than  she  had  met  in  a  manner  so  unexpected  and  un- 
thought.  Two  things,  however,  were  accomplished  in 
that  short,  saucy,  and  withal  agreeable  conversation ; 
the  kwambaku  had  been  fairly  warned  as  to  Yodo- 
gima's  real  temper,  and  he  himself  wrought  into  the 


126  YODOGIMA 

proper  humor  for  his  contemplated  meeting:  the  fun 
of  taunting,  had  recompensed  Jokoin. 

"I'll  have  this  thing  settled,  once  and  for  all,"  mut 
tered  Hideyoshi,  as  Jokoin  disappeared  behind]  a 
moving  cavalcade  and  he  had  turned  to  climb  the  hill 
where  Yodogima  marvelled  and  fretted  the  tardiness 
of  his  appearance. 

An  old  yashiki  (mansion)  afforded  the  princess 
temporary  quarters  farther  up  on  the  hillside  and  away 
from  the  hurry-skurry  of  the  camp  below.  It  was 
warm  and  restful,  with  a  breeze  blowing  gently  inland 
from  the  ruffled  bay  in  front  and  the  seething  ocean 
beyond.  Yodogima  sat  at  the  veranda's  edge,  high 
upon  the  stone-abutting  wall  that  terraced  here  and 
there  the  hill's  sharp  incline  or  served  as  foundation 
to  some  house  perched  high  in  air.  The  skies  were 
clear,  and  now  and  then  a  raven  hawked  his  weird  cry 
aloft  the  stilled  hamlets  in  front  or  clusters  of  seagull 
reeled  and  fed  in  the  distance. 

No  clouds  of  smoke  darkened  the  outlook  or  black 
ened  these  mats.  Clanging  bells  and  grinding  wheels 
there  were  none  to  awaken  anxiety  and  shatter  nerves. 
The  very  exigencies  of  life  found  expression  through 
its  subtiler  entities  and  not  a  sordid  instinct  lagged  or 
threatened  fain  regeneration.  Man  loved  as  always, 
but  gold  for  the  sake  of  gold,  greed  that  he  might 
gorge,  or  the  dull  clashing  of  horns  had  long  ago 
found  their  rest  alongside  of  other  tried-out  and  found 
wanting  thrills  in  easy  energies.  The  star  beautiful 
had  raised  him  to  newer,  grander  speculation  than  the 


YODOGIMA  127 

things  of  earth  conjured  or  the  hope  of  forgiveness 
promised.  For  every  reach  attained  there  must  be 
some  effort  put  forward :  for  each  sin  committed  an 
atonement.  Self  pretending,  by  others  accepted, 
saviors  and  martyrs  there  had  been  many,  but  as  time 
went  on  one  after  another  of  these  conjectured  bless 
ings  or  blind  experiments  had  been  swept  aside  or 
lost  in  the  wake  of  a  constantly  progressive  manhood, 
at  times  cast  high  upon  the  billow's  crest,  again 
sunken  low  into  the  troughs  of  despair,  yet  always 
guided  by  a  light  that  shone  singly  ahead,  against 
whose  halo  no  discordant  voice  had  as  believed  dimmed 
or  dulled  the  truer  harmonies  of  an  eternal,  perfectly 
consistent  God. 

Yodogima  looked  aloft  and  all  around.  Peace  on 
earth  and  good-will  toward  men  whispered  from  every 
nook  and  cranny.  The  birds  sang  it,  the  flowers 
smelled  it,  the  world  looked  consistent,  but  the  heart 
discerned  a  discordant  note.  Were  death  heaven's 
only  beginning,  life's  sole  end?  No,  no;  it  must  not 
be,  for  I  see  with  closed  eyes,  hear  with  muffled  ears, 
feel  without  the  sense  of  touch  a  Kami,  whose  works 
neither  begin  with  worlds  nor  end  in  man  ;  an  illumina 
tion  extending  from  heaven  unto  earth.  There  is  no 
subtler  hold  than  that  we  know ;  the  things  we  see  are 
but  the  ^h:idcs  of  reality.  Truth  fainly  lives  apart 
and  is  infinite. 

Sitting  there  enveloped,  within  a  world  as  distinct 
as  sublime,  as  far  above  earth  as  its  canopy  is  broad, 
the  mystic  spell  touched  and  warmed  her  as  though 


128  YODOGIMA 

its  complement  were  at  hand.  The  province  of  sex 
fastened  upon  her  as  the  sun's  rays  congeal  and 
expand  with  each  unhindered  contact :  communing, 
Yodogima  had  been  less  than  human,  had  worse  than 
mocked  His  divinest  precept,  were  the  bread  and  wine 
passed  untasted. 

Hideyoshi  stood  over,  the  world  exacted  its  decrees, 
and  conformity  offered  her  an  only  excuse : 

"I  hear  you,"  replied  she,  "am  conscious  of  my 
obligations,  and  would  not  defy  that  is.  Take  me  as 
I  am.  I'll  serve  you  if  Kami  commands ;  let  the  law 
have  its  way,  and  make  me  what  you  like :  in  the  name 
of  all  that  has  gone  before  and  that  is  to  be,  let  me 
and  do  you  save,  too,  the  honor  of  woman." 

That  night  the  two-lipped  cup  once  more  went 
round  —  its  never-ending  course  —  and  Yodogima 
became  in  law  as  she  was  in  fact  first  of  consequence 
at  Hideyoshi's  court. 

And  if  these  things  were  inevitable,  if  there  re 
mained  at  Azuchi  a  soul  forlorn  and  perchance  bitter, 
perhaps  welling  up  a  still  more  ruthless  indisposition, 
and  if  the  ideal  toward  which  a  hapless,  helpless 
woman  had  bent  her  every  energy,  sacrificed  the  body 
to  preserve  a  soul,  were  attained  —  if  all  this  had  re 
sulted  in  fact,  there  yet  remained  among  them  one  in 
whose  heart  there  lingered  not  only  a  burning,  com 
pelling  sense  of  duty,  but  as  well  an  abiding  faith  in 
truth. 

Yodogima  had  not  surrendered  the  spirit,  nor  had 


YODOGIMA       .  129 

she  submitted  in  pride,  or  bowed  to  falsehood,  hate,  or 
weakness  —  to  her  the  world  seemed  as  sweet  and  as 
wholesome  as  the  battle  had  been  swift  or  exacting. 
Thence  life  portended  a  fullness  that  hitherto  had 
been  a  dream. 


i3o  YODOG1MA 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  great  sacrifice  that  Yodogima  made  only 
strengthened  Hideyostoi's  respect  for  her, 
whetted  the  appetite  to  a  keener  appreciation  of  the 
virtues  underlying  righteous  generation.  lyeyasu  had 
surrendered  the  heart  to  save  his  neck ;  no  such  thing 
as  pretence  or  any  amount  of  subterfuge  could  deceive 
the  inner  workings  of  an  understanding  wrought  in 
the  light  of  penetration  like  Hideyoshi's.  Yodogima 
had  reserved  the  heart,  sacrificing  personal  predispo 
sition  only  that  she  might  serve  fairly  the  honor  of 
an  under-sex  —  she  had  not  submitted  through  com 
pulsion  or  fear  of  any  man ;  the  kwambaku  knew  that, 
if  others  did  not,  and  the  very  consciousness  of  it 
made  him  what  no  earthly  power  could  have  done. 

"Such  generosity,"  said  he,  to  Oyea,  in  answer  to 
her  questioning,  "cannot  be  requited  so  easily;  there 
must  be  a  place  set  apart  for  them ;  perhaps  among 
the  stars,  and  such  as  you  and  I  can  best  attain  our 
peace  in  humbler  ways  —  reverence  has  withstood  the 
storm  of  ages." 

"But  are  not  the  gods  self-asserted?" 

"Well,  yes ;  I  once  thought  so,  perhaps  do  yet ;  but 
self-assertion,  not  grounded  upon  self-denial,  may 
prove  an  empty  blessing  —  as  it  has  with  me.  Would 
you  profit  by  example,  then  look ;  even  Hideyoshi  has 
found  it  meet  that  we  reason  together;  who  declares 


YODOGIMA  131 

himself  wiser  than  the  humblest  is  in  truth  an  ass; 
deception  cannot  weather  the  test  of  time." 

They  were  sitting  in  the  dusk,  midway  between  day 
and  night,  and  arising,  Hideyoshi  approached  the 
family  shrine  —  it  seemed  empty  and  so  unlike  the 
needs  of  distinction,  yet  the  kwambaku  had,  upon  his 
return  from  Odawara,  stopped  at  Nakamura  and  done 
reverence  to  his  long  buried  but  sadly  neglected 
parents.  Nor  had  Nita  (a  first,  but  intractable,  there 
fore  divorced,  wife)  been  passed  by  without  some 
little  recognition  —  possibly  as  an  encouragement  to 
this  one,  Oyea,  in  this  her  most  trying  need. 

"What  of  night  following  the  day?"  asked  he,  of 
her,  lighting  one,  then  the  other  of  five  carefully 
selected  and  wistfully  named  sticks  of  incense  for  her 
to  sniff  and  guess  or  call  as  pleased  her  most  and 
fitted  best  his  mood. 

"That  a  sun  may  rise  to  outshine  another,"  retorted 
she,  wholly  mindful  of  her  own  situation,  if  not  his 
method. 

''You  say  rightly,  Oyea,  and  woe  be  unto  him  or 
her  who  would  deny  or  abuse  the  virtue  of  sniffing; 
only  through  a  son  can  man  attain  heaven." 

Hideyoshi's  words  pained  Oyea;  she  had  trusted 
him,  served  dutifully,  and  conformed  to  the  require 
ments  of  the  age,  only  to  be  told  in  the  end  that  there 
could  be  no  salvation  for  her  —  the  stork  had  with 
held  her  lord's  divinest  blessing. 

Oyea  looked  round  at  the  scant  necessities  with 
which  all  her  life  she  had  been  making  both  end- 


i32  YODOGIMA 

meet  that  he,  her  husband,  should  lack  no  aid  within 
her  rendering  to  help  him  onward  toward  the  goal 
she,  too,  believed  him  most  worthy  to  hold.  Were 
she  to  receive  now,  at  the  bidding  of  charm,  or  the 
failure  of  chance,  only  the  bare  habiliments  of  respect 
able  doing?  She  had  forfeited  at  marriage  better 
opportunity,  suffered  the  finger  of  scorn  more  than 
once,  upheld  patiently  the  laws  of  the  land  and  bowed 
reverently  before  the  gods  of  time,  and  yet  no  one 
had  awakened  within  her  a  light  revealing  more  than 
earth's  proffered  bounty.  And  if  the  bitter  must  be 
hers,  why  not  as  well  partake  of  the  sweets? 

The  very  thought  for  the  moment  raised  her  from 
lowest  despondency  to  highest  anticipation.  Rising 
to  her  feet  the  world  seemed  rejuvenated  with  a 
thought  as  glorious  as  new  —  Hideyoshi  lay  stretched 
upon  the  matting,  snoring  away  fonder  dreams  than 
she  had  dared  conceive. 

The  cold  sweat  oozed  in  beads  at  her  forehead. 

Here,  contentedly  and  at  her  mercy,  rested  in  peace 
and  expectation  the  one  who  could  at  will  and  with 
out  retribution  give  or  take  her  happiness.  Then 
conscience  rushed  to  the  fore,  and  Oyea  stood  more 
pitifully  than  purpose  had  made  her.  Calmly  sur 
veying  the  relaxed  features  in  whose  justness  had 
been  for  a  lifetime  her  only  faith,  the  at  last  enraged 
wife  unwittingly  loosed  her  would-be  grasp  in  the 
face  of  another  vision  which  as  incomprehensibly  rose 
to  stay  her  hand. 

"Woman!"  snarled  she,  "the  curse  of  her  kind,  and 


YODOGIMA  133 

a  vexation  always.  I'll  don  another  dress :  therein  lies 
my  only  recompense." 

After  a  while  Hideyoshi  arose,  and  rubbing  his  eyes, 
asked  doubtfully: 

"Did  I  sleep,  Oyea?" 

"Yes,  my  lord." 

"Then  it  was  a  dream:  I  would  that  it  were  real." 

"For  that,  it  may  be  none  the  less." 

The  great  man  looked  up,  puzzled  though  wilful. 
He  could,  nor  did,  comprehend  that  she,  too,  might 
have  dreamed,  marvelled  the  penalties  exacted  of 
rightful  living,  and  evolved  a  retribution,  if  less  human, 
then  the  more  in  keeping  with  an  instinct  born  of 
subtler  virtues. 

"You  shall  not  deny  me,  Oyea?"  plead  he,  half 
doubtful  of  the  motive,  if  altogether  innocent  of  her 
intentions. 

"Deny  you?    Of  what?    Yodogima?" 

"No.    A  son." 

"Aye,  aye,  my  lord.  A  higher  authority  than  mine 
denies  you  that." 

"There  is  none  higher.    You  are  my  lawful  wife." 

"Fie  on  you!  We  but  declare,  while  impotency 
reigns.  My  faith  is  in  virtue." 

"Then  I'll  not  trust  you  —  though  the  bonzes  had 
served  better,  your  purpose,  than  these  self-called 
priests:  who  preach  to  prey  while  their  victims  pray 
but  'peach.'  I  once  had  confidence  in  you:  I  never 
had  any  in  them." 

"What  of  priests  and  bonzes,  you  might  yet  better 


134  YODOGIMA 

charge  a  blessing  to  the  care  of  one  whose  influence 
nor  beauty  stands  anyone  in  hand  or  harm:  though 
only  a  wife,  I  should  serve  no  less  an  encouragement." 

"Rickety,  rickety,  fkldlede,  fiddlede;  a  woman  is  a 
woman,  her  tongue  an  appendage.  Therein  the  cer 
tainty  of  wagging.  Both  jealousy  and  consistency  may 
be  jewels,  superb  and  allusive,  but  each  in  a  tiara.  I'll 
let  you  have  it  out  in  Azuchi;  Yodogima  is  already 
at  Ozaka:  between  creeds,  or  independently,  there 
may  yet  formulate  a  crown.  See  you  that  your  con 
duct  is  no  less  attuned  than  her  estimate  deserves; 
I  have  business  at  the  capital." 

Taking  his  departure  forthwith,  Oyea  bowed  low 
and  reverently  —  not  so  much,  perhaps,  now,  out  of 
respect  for  a  husband  alone,  or  for  anything  he  had 
done  personally  to  deserve  as  much,  but  more  as  a 
result  of  some  inner  quality  or  natural-born  trait 
that  abuse  could  not  eradicate  or  dull  even  into  vain 
misapprehension.  Oyea  was  of  better  stock  than 
Hideyoshi :  better  insofar  as  tradition  or  probability 
had  seen  fit  to  record  and  make  known,  yet  looking 
out  upon  the  world  in  which  she  lived,  and  reflecting 
the  obligations  imposed  by  a  social  organization  with 
which  it  seemed  that  she  had  had  so  little  to  do,  a 
growing  sense  of  something  wanting  burned  the  harder 
into  her  now  softeningly  bewildered  consciousness. 
Had  she  accused  him  wrongly?  Might  it  be,  after 
all,  verily  some  shortcoming  of  her  own  which  had 
for  so  long  a  time  denied  to  him  an  inalienable  right  ? 
And  what  of  society? 


YODOGIMA  135 

Her  religion  —  that  one  handed  down  from  an 
ancestry  antedating  all  creeds,  surmounting  any  pro 
fession —  had  provided  the  means  of  escaping  just 
such  a  failure  as  she,  by  virtue  of  feeling  as  pitted 
against  reason,  had  suffered;  though  as  religiously,  if 
not  as  rigorously,  courted.  And  why  had  she  done 
so? 

The  only  reason  that  she  could  fairly  call  to  mind 
was  that  the  priests  had  told  her  differently;  that  a 
dawning  trust  in  Christ  was  at  that  very  moment 
sapping  the  only  foundation  that  she  may  have  had 
for  a  belief ;  that  the  doctrines  of  a  new  church  were 
separating  her  forever  and  helplessly  from  all  that 
had  been  dear  and  possible  to  her  and  hers  —  and, 
asked  she,  of  herself,  and  her  God: 

"For  what?" 

Oyea  awaited  patiently  some  response  from  this 
newly  proclaimed  Savior,  whom  the  priests  had  set 
over  her  and  home  —  no  other  voice  than  conscience 
answered;  and  therein  she  conjured  many  thoughts, 
divined  a  reason  for  things,  and  fell  hopelessly  at  the 
shrine  of  an  uncontrollable,  undenying,  born-unto 
impulse.  Yodogima  possessed  an  attraction,  Kami  in 
his  wisdom  had  equated  life  and  death,  and  no  man's 
blood  or  woman's  want  could  save  a  soul  or  regen 
erate  an  unregenerate. 

Then  she  marvelled  the  seeming  vanity  of  all  that 
is  more  than  crude,  and  out  of  the  black  there  rushed 
the  possible  saving  grace  of  man's  own  involution  — 


136  YODOGIMA 

both  prayer  and  confession  had  failed  to  wrest  her 
from  worse  than  perdition. 

"That  woman  enjoy  my  husband's  favor,  in  a 
castle  of  her  own,  because  she  is  more  than  I  ?  Hugh  ! 
I'll  see  her  humbled." 

"Otoshi?" 

"Yes,  my  lady." 

"Fetch  the  smelling-salts,  and  my  vanity  case. 
Further,  I  shall  not  require  your  service,  perhaps,  till 
the  sun  is  risen  —  at  Ozaka." 


YODOGIMA  137 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  castle  at  Ozaka  now  stood  in  the  main  fin 
ished,  and  with  Yodogima's  occupancy  and 
the  kwambaku's  favor  at  once  sprang  into  prominence ; 
not  only  as  a  strategic  point  of  first  importance,  but 
as  the  very  seat  of  empire  socially,  possibly  politically, 
rivaling  in  all  respects,  if  not  eclipsing,  Kyoto,  the 
capital  and  ruling  post  since  the  days  of  Kwammu, 
some  eight  hundred  years  before. 

This  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  barons,  to  cen 
tralize  all  things  at  the  new.  seat  of  power,  did  not 
meet  with  Hideyoshi's  broader  views ;  he  was  demo 
cratic  at  heart,  and  beside  a  better  judgment  may  have 
preferred  "toadyism,"  if  such  there  must  be,  at  long 
range.  He  had  fought  his  way  into  the  foremost 
rank,  not  to  tear  down  existing  institutions  or  to 
substitute  one  man  for  another  in  authority  or  to 
profit  personally  at  the  expense  of  others:  he  would 
rise,  no  doubt  to  a  heavenly  sphere,  but  in  that  should 
not  disturb  earthly  conditions  —  it  were  the  individual, 
refractory  and  crude,  who  must  be  thrashed  into 
peaceful,  tolerant  attitudes  —  would  carve  out  a  new 
place  or  adapt  himself  to  an  old  one,  enabling  direction 
and  enforcement  in  a  manner  at  once  effective  and 
for  the  betterment  of  all  mankind.  A  laudable  thought, 
perhaps,  and  with  an  organization  in  keeping  with  his 
power  to  subjugate  Hideyoshi  might  have  become  in 


138  YODOGIMA 

truth  a  god  —  self-made,  self-standing,  and  self-per 
petuating:  as  he  no  doubt  planned  and  fairly  believed 
within  the  doing  of  man. 

Purposing  to  distribute  and  maintain  separately 
these  greater  divisions  of  human  interest  and  essential 
development,  the  kwambaku  had  as  wisely  or  un 
wisely  sent  lyeyasu  into  the  newer  regions  at  Tokyo, 
hoping  to  transfer  as  far  as  possible  from  their  capi 
tal,  not  only  a  possible  rival,  but  the  larger  business 
activities  of  the  empire;  he  had  left  the  mikado,  his 
court  and  the  kuge  (royalty)  at  Kyoto,  best  fitted 
as  he  believed  by  environment  and  tradition  to  per 
petuate  authority  on  the  one  hand  and  engender 
respect  on  the  other;  with  religion  or  society  in  the 
narrower  sense  he  had  little  to  do  and  much  less  con 
cern  :  both  seemed  essential  or  vital  to  priest  or  lay 
man,  nobleman  or  peasant  alike,  hence  the  better 
adapted  without  seat  or  prestige  to  encourage,  less 
deny ;  his  own  fortress  he  believed  well  established  at 
Ozaka. 

Here  he  could  look  out,  at  close  range,  upon  the 
best  that  a  nation  had  evolved  or  the  worst  suffered ; 
wealth  and  poverty  were  alike  interesting  and  incum 
bent  questions.  Strength  within  and  weakness  with 
out  those  walls  afforded  a  contrast  deep  in  purport. 
To  the  southward,  not  far  distant,  lay  Nara,  treasured 
home  of  the  beautiful  in  art  as  well  as  the  profound 
of  learning.  Kyoto,  the  capital,  no  farther  away, 
sheltered  the  revered  and  the  dignified  in  statesman 
ship  and  authority.  The  trader's  mart  and  the  pro- 


YODOGIM  \  139 

ducer's  seat,  least  tasteful  to  him,  had  been  trans 
ported  and  established  farthest  off:  intrusted  to  hands 
that  he  believed  best  fitted  for  that  and  no  other, 
Hideyoshi  sought  to  set  himself  down  to  the  realization 
of  a  larger  desire,  that  other  faith,  the  reincarnation, 
an  inter-perpetuation  and  glorification  of  self  and  self 
alone. 

"You  are  my  only  hope,  Yodogima.  Let  faithful 
ness  adjust  itself  not  to  the  exigencies  of  mean  occa- 
>i<»n,  but  give  me  a  son;  the  golden  thread  must  be 
stranded  unbroken.  Ishida  shall  serve,  and  the  cap 
tains  honor;  the  wealth  and  the  fashion  and  the  cul 
ture  of  all  men  henceforth  bows  at  your  bidding." 

"Do  not  tempt  me,  my  lord ;  I  should  rather  trust 
Kami ;  the  glitter  but  disheartens  me :  in  prayer  I  have 
faith." 

"I  would  deny  you  nothing:  only  bear  me  a  son." 

"Then  grant  me  fair.  Remove  these  fawning,  cring 
ing  courtiers,  and  bide  you  here;  I  am  only  human." 

"Perhaps  more.  Yet  I'll  vow  you  safe  in  hands  I 
know  —  Ishida  never  yet  played  me  false.  Come ; 
out  with  it;  who  is  there,  that  you  prefer?  Hide 
yoshi  may  wax  blind,  when  occasion  requires,  but 
he  need  not  for  that  be  treated  as  dumb  —  to  the 
workings  of  conscience  or  fancy.  My  wife  loves:  i- 
her  husband  but  a  scapegoat  ?" 

"It  may  be  true,  and  she  none  the  less  abused  thus 
accused.  Take  this  man  Tshida  from  the  castle,  and 
keep  him  without.  Perhaps  then  you  shall  know  that 
a  woman  may  love  and  yet  discern,  if  not  command. 


140  YODOGIMA 

I  am  your  wife,  and  shall  serve  you  as  decreed;  a 
chance  is  all  that  I  shall  ask  or  that  you  may  require." 

Ashamed  of  his  conduct  and  mortified  over  anxiety, 
Hideyoshi  did  not  as  bid,  but  left  the  castle  with  his 
suit,  including  the  reluctant  Tshida ;  who  by  long  years 
of  faithful  attendance  had  so  ingratiated  himself - 
designing  accordingly  — •  that  the  kwambaku  had  al 
ready  been  put  to  straits  upon  "more  than  one  occasion 
to  find  a  real  or  plausible  excuse  for  keeping  the 
fellow  longer  in  his  service.  Nor  was  Yodogima  alto 
gether  alone  in  her  estimation  of  him;  many  of  the 
kwambaku's  oldest  and  most  trusted  friends  had  sus- 
picioned  the  wily  body-servant's  good  faith,  in  fact,  at 
this  early  day  mistrusted  ulterior  motives  and  cross 
purposes  should  the  master  accidentally  or  otherwise 
happen  to  die. 

The  sudden  departure,  therefore,  of  Hideyoshi, 
seemingly  miffed  and  more  than  ever  under  the  influ 
ence  of  Ishida,  who  grew  thereby  less  in  favor  among 
the  captains,  roused  some  of  them  to  greater  concern, 
if  not  about  somebody's  sanity,  then  as  to  their  own 
welfare. 

Among  these  grizzled  or  enthusiastic  warriors  and 
supporters  none  took  to  heart  more  than  Kuroda  the 
matter  of  Hideyoshi's  seeming  change;  the  two  had 
grown  up  together,  from  early  days,  the  one  as  re 
tainer,  the  other  his  aid,  and  they  loved  each  other  as 
only  men  similarly  situated  and  suited  can  love. 
Ishida,  however,  had  poisoned  the  elder,  and  with  his 
establishment  at  Fushima  —  selected  on  account  of 


YODOGIMA  141 

its  isolation  yet  accessibility  —  the  veteran  fighter, 
Kuroda,  was  at  last  turned  from  the  door. 

"It  is  a  terrible  blow,  Vodogima,  to  be  torn  from  a 
lifelong  friendship,"  said  he,  to  her,  shortly  after 
ward,  while  sitting  in  the  fall  of  evening,  at  the  Ozaka 
castle,  overlooking  the  vast  throngs  around,  who  came 
and  went  with  less  attending  joy  or  sorrow,  "and 
Ishida  is  to  blame.  Yet  I  cannot  criticise  your  re 
solve  ;  you  have  fought  a  noble  battle,  my  dear  child  : 
you  did  right,  and  there  isn't  a  man  worth  his  while  in 
Hideyoshi's  service  but  would  stand  by  you  to  the  last 
—  I  wonder;  has  the  kwambaku  lost  his  mind?" 

"No.  He  has,  though,  lost  confidecne  in  me,"  re 
plied  Yodogima,  suppressing  with  difficulty  the  tears 
fast  rising  in  her  downcast  eyes. 

"Impossible!" 

"It  is  true." 

"Then  Ishida  has  done  more  than  play  the  traitor; 
he  has  villitied  a  good  woman :  more,  he  has  sought  to 
ruin  a  worthy  wife.  I  swear  it,  he  shall  rue  the  day." 

In  all  these  years  Yodogima  had  done  everything  in 
her  power  to  live  the  life  of  a  faithful,  dutiful,  and 
appreciative  wife  —  such  as  the  law  and  the  pleasure 
of  man  had  enforced.  No  longer  might  she  question 
the  act,  or  consult  morals ;  she  had  chosen  to  abide  the 
sterner  edicts  of  a  social  organism  utterly  beyond  the 
revision  or  prevision  of  any  one  individual,  much  less 
a  woman:  who  had  neither  voice  nor  hand  in  the 
making,  nor  could  suggest  its  undoing.  Yet  the  closer 
the  reality  the  more  transcendant  became  her  one 


142  YODOGIMA 

inspiration.  The  star  that  had  guided  her  from  in 
fancy  shone  the  brighter  for  the  gloom;  that  en 
shrouded  a  heart,  in  which  there  lived  a  conscience: 
the  dictates  of  which  had  long  ago  flung  her  upon  the 
mercies  of  a  less  grinding,  more  tolerant  fate. 

"I  will  be  true  to  my  Kami,  though  declared  false 
by  all  the  creeds  of  all  the  gods,"  promised  she,  to 
herself,  long  after  the  grey-haired  Kuroda  had  gone: 
when  the  stars  had  inspired  that  larger  comprehension 
than  of  things  we  think  we  know. 

The  night  brought,  too,  its  peace  of  rest,  and  on  the 
morrow  Yodogima  awakened  to  a  juster  realization 
of  affairs  close  at  hand ;  swift  couriers  brought  tidings 
of  a  great  change  at  the  seat  of  authority,  Fushima  — 
lately  established  by  Hideyoshi  as  his  own  official 
residence,  but  just  now  turned  over  to  Hidetsugu, 
his  nephew,  whom  he  had  adopted  and  made  kwam- 
baku,  he  himself  assuming  the  title  of  Taiko. 

Scorn,  therefore,  began,  presently,  to  take  the  place 
of  due  consideration;  rumor  travelled  fast,  and  the 
master's  change  of  title,  and  the  adoption  of  an  heir, 
soon  raised  the  question  of  failure:  Yodogima  was 
now  charged  with  vilest  remission,  and  had  not  resig 
nation  sooner  prepared  the  way  she,  too,  must  have 
fallen  before  the  rank  avalanche  of  duller  ingratitude 
than  follows  in  the  wake  of  blind  assumption. 

The  nation  had  been  wronged,  and  the  man  who  had 
placed  his  trust  in  her,  abused :  it  devolved  upon  her 
and  none  other  to  right  the  grievous  evil  that  had 
apparently  been  accepted  as  final. 


YODOGIMA  143 

"What  in  His  name  can  I  do?"  begged  and  plead 
the  princess,  in  the  only  way  that  she  knew. 

Then  Oyea  stealthily  came  to  Ozaka,  advising  and 
befriending. 

The  older  of  the  two  wives  did  not  threaten;  she 
had  learned  by  experience  and  conversion  that  the 
more  effective  course  lay  in  subtler  means,  perhaps  in 
truth. 

"Why  don't  you  visit  Hiyeisan?  There  is  a  temple 
there  —  " 

"I  thought  you  had  turned  Christian?"  interceded 
Yoclogima,  thoughtlessly. 

"So  I  have;  but  you  may  need  not  some  forgive 
ness;  circumstance  no  sooner  governs  than  fulfilment 
predicates  —  the  act,  if  not  our  meed.  What  matter 
how  or  where  we  pray  and  do,  when  wrought  in 
heaven's  likening  span?  It  is  the  consequence,  and 
not  its  revelation,  that  makes  duty  paramount.  There 
fore,  seek  you,  who  have  only  to  choose;  it  is  for  such 
as  I  to  fashion,  and  when  this  particular  god  shall 
have  served  you  as  he  never  did  me,  why,  then,  you, 
too,  may  have  occasion  to  flit  and  none  to  reason.  I 
tell  you  there  are  as  many  ways  as  creeds,  or  less,  and 
I'd  try  them  out,  all  of  them,  though  not  so  beautiful." 

Yoclogima  laughed  outright  in  spite  of  conditions: 

"What  in  heaven's  name  has  beauty  to  do  with 
religion  ?" 

"My  dear  Yodogima ;  it  has  everything  to  do  with 
it;  as  it  has  to  do  with  all  things  and  everybody,  the 
gods,  their  churches,  and  our  bounties  included.  Do 


144  YODOGIMA 

you  suppose,  for  a  minute,  that  I  should  be  here, 
to-day,  were  it  not  for  you?  And  it's  a  part  of  my 
religion  to  serve  and  trust  that  trust  may  serve." 

''How  kind!" 

"You  won't  fail  me,  will  you,  Yodogima?" 

'Til  think  about  it ;  I  do  not  wish  to  be  narrow,  or 
— •  outwitted." 

An  unlooked-for  restlessness  appeared  to  have 
swept  into  the  land;  and  all  the  barons  and  captains 
grew  uneasy  with  inaction  or  impatient  of  conditions. 
To  Yodogima  it  seemed  that  in  some  way  she  alone 
were  responsible  for  the  cause,  if  not  the  effect,  of 
such  unheard-of  conditions.  Hideyoshi  knew  better; 
and  smarting  with  shame  or  repenting  of  foolhardi- 
ness  turned  again  toward  Ozaka. 

No  such  joy  had  come  to  Yodogima  since  the  day 
lyeyasu  promised  his  love  and  protection.  While 
Oyea  had  never  broken  faith,  and  still  professed 
friendship,  the  younger  wife  had  long  ago  amply  dis 
covered  the  reason,  and  knew  fairly  in  her  own  heart 
that  once  a  wife  in  fact  no  husband  might  share  his 
love  or  respect  or  favor  without  breaking  the  tenderer 
thread,  no  matter  what  the  demands  or  the  edicts  of 
society  and  of  law,  or  both.  Whether  for  good  or  for 
ill  there  could  be  no  compromise  where  an  affinity 
had  laid  its  hand  upon  that  and  that  alone  vital,  if  not 
sacred,  unto  itself.  The  older  wife's  interest  had 
resolved  only  the  shielding  of  an  inner  vanity,  as  Hide- 
yoshi's  accusations  laid  bare  the  outward  appearance 
of  that  same  inborn,  unmanageable  tendency:  call  it 


YODOGIMA  145 

by  what  name  one  might,  govern  as  the  world  should 
see  fit,  it  were  yet  a  force  no  less  determinate  of  man 
than  absolute  in  the  revelation  of  God. 

"I  did  you  a  very  great  wrong,"  began  Hideyoshi, 
by  way  of  remission,  as  Yodogima  and  he  strolled 
away,  through  the  bramble,  at  the  hillside,  toward  the 
lower  castle  wall ;  "and,  as  you  see,  in  recognition  of 
your  superior  trust  and  my  acknowledged  duty,  I 
have  willingly  left  Tshida  behind.  What  more  would 
you  have  me  do,  lady  patience?" 

"Love  me,  truly  love  me,  my  lord ;  then,  also,  you 
might,  sometimes,  address  me,  as  Yodogima  —  only 
Yodogima,  if  no  more." 

"And,  will  you,  too,  call  me  Hideyoshi?" 

Yodogima  bowed  low,  and  the  scarlet  rushed  to  her 
face.  The  soft,  warm  air  of  early  spring  fanned  the 
flame,  and  Hideyoshi  felt  as  never  before  the  glow 
and  the  warmth  of  rising  confidence.  An  image 
carved  in  stone  of  the  good  and  the  great  stood  near 
at  their  side  and  returning  the  cherished  salutation 
of  that  one  higher  held  our  taiko  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life  approached  this  in  some  way  fashioned 
god  who  had  for  many  thousand  or  more  years  held 
and  swayed  the  hearts  of  a  nation  so  deep-grounded 
and  far-seeing  that  no  truth  revealed  or  possibility 
conjectured  had  escaped  their  discerning,  eager  quest 
for  that  we  wish  were  what  we  would  it  were.  And 
approaching,  he  did  the  one  thing  that  really  distin 
guishes  man  and  establishes  for  him  a  world  apart. 


146  YODOGIMA 

Hideyoshi  prayed ;  and  Yodogima  marvelled  the 
force  of  an  environment. 

All  her  prayers  had  arisen  within  the  solicitude  of 
tried-out  conviction,  a  consciousness  fraught  with  dis 
trust  in  everything  not  wholly  proven  or  self-satisfy 
ing,  were  invoked  of  a  Being  that  she  knew,  One 
standing  revealed  in  the  light  of  His  beneficence,  not 
some  unknown  but  hoped-for  God,  conjured  as  the 
result  of  a  longing  on  her  part  to  escape  the  heartless 
dark  of  earth's  vain,  momentary  alternations.  Follow 
that  beacon  —  above  the  need  or  beneath  the  power 
of  faith  —  she  would ;  there  could  be  no  doubt  in  her 
mind  as  to  His  supremacy,  Its  ultimation ;  but  might 
she  not  for  that,  without  overstepping  the  borders  of 
a  bidden  track,  nor  any  the  less  losing  sight  of  her  own 
true  inspiration,  might  she  not,  in  her  flight  toward 
an  unalterably  preconceived  and  self-attainable  end 
so  govern  her  steps  that  no  conflict  ensue  with  others 
bent  on  no  less  holy,  yet  more  uncertain,  grounds? 

The  stars  seemed  whirling  in  space  measured  and 
adjusted  to  the  balance  of  a  perfect  equilibrium;  all 
the  elements,  no  matter  whether  it  be  the  rushing  of 
the  winds,  or  the  rumblings  of  an  avalanche,  or  the 
belching  forth  of  fire  and  the  downpourings  of  waters 
from  heaven  upon  earth,  each  found  in  due  time  and 
with  perfect  accord  its  own  properly  allotted  place  or 
plan ;  the  soul  and  the  body  lived  their  destined  duality 
with  no  more  positive  dissilition  than  death  itself 
scarce  renders;  the  negative  forces  of  earth  and  eter 
nity,  heaven  or  oblivion,  were  but  the  positive's  own 


YODOGIMA  147 

postulate,  working  out  its  never-ending,  all-propelling 
grind  toward  an  essential  individuality,  supreme  and 
overreaching,  whether  wrought  in  the  fiery  evolutions 
of  fate  or  suffered  of  an  humbler,  more  easily  gotten, 
commonly  adapted  belief,  its  godhead  a  trinity  or  as 
we  please,  and  its  doctrine  but  a  faith  or  something 
less:  why  deny  anything,  anybody,  or  their  pleasure? 

Jokoin  had  fully  demonstrated  the  larger  possibili 
ties  of  any  ordinary  sort  of  real  susceptibility,  Oyea 
had  suggested  the  temple  as  a  more  fitting  place,  and 
a  particular  one  as  the  most  likely  of  transmission  if 
not  remission,  and  Hideyoshi  really  made  no  outward 
protest  against  its  individual  use  or  secular  purposes : 
there  must  be  some  strange  potency  hidden  under 
neath  the  force  of  prayer  wafted  within  the  portals 
of  a  place  guarded  so  sacredly  and  approached  in  faith. 
The  church  too,  then,  either  temple  or  edifice,  held 
its  secret,  perchance  worked  an  instrumentality,  no 
doubt  brought  compensations  that  she,  in  her  lone 
environment,  had  failed  to  realize:  the  world  de 
manded  of  her  that  she  leave  no  thing  undone,  make 
every  effort  to  resolve  its  higher  blessing,  and  through 
that  and  that  alone  she  must  and  could  attain  her  own 
true  ideality. 

Hideyoshi  had,  for  all  she  knew  or  could  surmise, 
done  his  part  and  faithfully. 

"You  have  now  my  very  soul,  Yodogima,  and  are 
proffered  as  well  its  beggarly  hull.  All  these  trap 
pings,  with  which  I  have  fairly  endowed  you  —  a 
castle  not  made  with  common  hands,  the  finest  silk- 


i48  YODOGIMA 

evolved  of  Uena's  grace,  food  that  no  god  might  dis 
dain,  and  service  from  no  lesser  educator  than  time 
itself  —  are  nothing  as  compared  with  the  spirit  I 
would  invoke.  Hear  me,  O  Benten,  O  Yodogima,  O 
Eternity;  I  must  have  life,  shall  survive  the  grave. 
Grant  me  this,  mother  of  time,  goddess  on  earth,  and 
love  to  men;  I  can  do  no  more;  the  blood  of  man  is 
final;  it  is  supreme,  an  only  offering.  Let  me  sur 
vive,"  begged  Hideyosbi,  utterly  oblivious  of  any 
thing  and  everything,  except  the  one  woman  who  stood 
over  with  anxious,  motionless  face. 

"It  shall  be  done,"  replied  she,  not  any  less  driven 
or  conscious  of  the  broad  seas  of  uncertainty  raising 
and  lowering  their  frail  bark  upon  its  never  ceasing, 
always  mysterious  trend  or  disregarding  travail. 


YODOGIMA  149 


CHAPTER  XVII 

LONG  into  the  night  Ybdogima  struggled  hard 
with  the  problem  which  now  crowded  closer 
round,  hemming  her  in  and  forcing  her  down  till  there 
seemed  no  other  means  of  escape.  Their  own  religion 
promised  no  relief  short  of  the  phenomenal,  and  her 
husband  had  made  a  last  appeal:  would  again  tear 
himself  away,  going  this  time  into  foreign  lands,  thus 
to  retrieve  his  fallen  prestige  with  further  deadly 
conflict. 

Something  must  be  done;  and  that  quickly,  as  cir 
cumstances  indicated;  the  recently  subdued  daimyos, 
though  loyal,  were  veterans,  and  out  of  employment, 
became  unmanageable;  using,  no  doubt,  the  matter 
of  the  taiko's  failure  of  a  natural  son  as  an  excuse 
themselves  to  break  the  peace.  Korea,  therefore,  of 
fered  a  likely  outlet,  and  thither  her  husband  should 
go,  yet  it  must  take  many  months  to  equip  and  move 
such  an  army  as  he  had  threatened  upon  so  hazardous 
an  undertaking.  Yodogima  reasoned  that  she  still 
had  time  to  save  him  and  reestablish  confidence  at 
home. 

'•'I  shall  in  truth  try  the  temple,"  concluded  she,  to 
herself,  "as  this  meddlesome  Oyea  —  I  fear  with  more 
of  knowledge  than  faith  —  has  so  earnestly  and  Chris- 
tianly-like  advised.  Perhaps  creed,  after  all,  is  verily 
some  real  man-made,  opportunely-devised  opening 


150  YODOGIMA 

unto  the  Way.  I  must,  howevei,  accept  faith,  as  a 
guide,  more  upon  the  strength  of  Jolkoin's  fain  atti 
tude  ;  she  seems  to  have  gotten  for  the  trouble  all  she 
asked  or  could  manage.  This  Christian  device,  though 
new  and  undemonstrable,  if  it  does  no  more,  may  be 
the  means  of  revealing  to  me  a  bit  of  the  benefaction 
that  some  of  our  fathers  profess  these  six  hundred 
years  or  more  to  have  found  hidden  behind  the  be 
nignity  of  Buddha.  Yes,  I  shall  just  this  once,  if  not 
again,  set  aside  staid  reason  to  test  dame  truth,  deny 
self  at  the  bidding  and  for  the  love  of  others  —  the 
effect  can  be  no  more  trying  than  the  cause  is  just. 
My  prayer  must  be  answered." 

Thus  convinced  and  resigned,  sleep,  peaceful  and 
converting,  brought  in  its  round  at  waking  a  hope  that 
held  hitherto  only  in  the  making.  Now  she  could  look 
out  upon  the  world  with  a  freedom  that  brooked  no 
questioning:  the  very  clouds  themselves  seemed 
fraught  with  a  charity  that  she  had  believed  the  part 
and  the  due  of  man  alone.  No  longer  need  she  concern 
herself  about  sin;  the  blood  of  a  savior  had  atoned 
that :  Buddha  made  it  plain  that  knowledge  is  the  way, 
and  men,  inspired  no  doubt,  had  builded  a  temple, 
sacredly  ruled  at  the  door. 

She  had,  only,  to  proceed  thither,  and  pray. 

Yodogima  really  held  fast  at  heart  a  true  conver 
sion  ;  the  same  ideal  shone  as  brightly  as  before ;  only 
the  means  had  shifted;  let  them  smite;  she  should 
turn  the  other  cheek. 

And  they  did  strike.     Long  before  Hideyoshi  had 


YODOGIMA  151 

tried  out  or  finished  his  advantage,  Oyea  clandestinely 
entered  the  temple  and  there  counselled  the  keeper  - 
she  had  known  him  for  a  long  time,  and  designed 
better  than  he  knew  or  Yodogima  anticipated. 

The  morning  wended  brightly,  and  the  confiding 
princess,  departing  tenderly  the  vain,  mute  welcom- 
ings  of  an  ardently-inclined,  hard-accepted  husband, 
trod  expectantly  toward  the  selfsame  edifice,  devised 
and  made  in  the  name  of  One  who  consoles,  be  it  man 
or  his  cold-striven  image. 

Two  lions  carved  in  stone  stood  sentinel  at  either 
side  the  entrance.  These  Yodogima  contemplated  in 
the  light  of  a  new  understanding,  born  not  of  tradi 
tion,  but  of  faith  proclaimed  and  knowledge  derived. 
She  stood  there  in  the  footprints  of  an  enforced  pro 
gression,  and  must  no  longer  question  dogma,  though 
God  be  greater.  Then  she  turned  toward  the  gate, 
frosted  with  antiquity  and  jealous  of  its  passage  —  a 
receptacle  midway  standing  glaringly  reminded  her  of 
a  duty  that  fortunately  she  had  remembered :  Yodogi 
ma,  too,  cast  her  bread  upon  the  waters,  and  passed 
on,  that  others  might  feast  as  she  did  penance. 

Intercepted  now  by  grated  screens,  warning  her 
that  she  must  ask  and  it  shall  be  given,  Yodogima 
looked  and  there  beheld  an  image,  a  true  likeness  of 
what  she  all  her  life  had  painted  sublime.  Neither 
male  nor  female,  but  of  wood,  carved  in  lines  more 
symmetrical  than  reality  had  effected,  lacquered  of 
gold  finer  than  the  wants  of  ordinary  man  had  ever 
acclaimed,  these  surrounded  with  safeguards  seem- 


152  YODOGIM.A 

ingly  beyond  human  invasion,  guarded  on  either  side 
by  emblems  without  either  beginning  or  ending,  all 
surmounted  in  a  halo  that  two  burning  pots  of  incense 
ceaselessly  wafted  thither,  this  Yodogima,  a  penitent, 
believed  with  the  spirit  of  one  who  would  suffer  no 
transgression  to  stay  or  hinder  any  fulfilment  that 
her  God  might  elect,  and  clapping  her  hands  as  in 
wardly  decreed  and  outwardly  expressed  through  time 
hoary  invoked  a  passage  no  less  distant  or  angelic  than 
others  perhaps  as  discerning  or  more  plastic,  of  ages 
recurring  and  lands  apart,  had  sought  or  denied  in  the 
lesser  stranding  of  a  course  no  more  divinely  con 
ceived. 

No  further  or  greater  low  proving  and  encouraging 
of  an  inspiration  born  within,  and  the  spit-ball  propi 
tiously  thrown  —  not  with  vulgar  meaning  —  the  gates 
on  either  side  the  lofty  emblem  swung  ajar  —  Yodo 
gima  had  gained  the  promise  of  an  inner  sanctuary, 
where  moods  and  morals  are  the  more  finely,  if  not 
subtly,  wrought  and  there  dwells  no  other  god  or  god 
dess  than  communion  withal. 

Yodogima  chose  the  right  approach  and  her  prog- 
nosticator  the  left.  As  an  affinity  draws,  so  it  resolves 
only  the  transverse  of  an  attending  unity.  The  posi 
tive  and  the  negative  harmonize  upon  grounds  no 
more  irreducible,  and  that  bonze  followed  his  prey 
as  the  quadrant  confronts  a  Cardan. 

Lying  there,  at  one  side,  behind  closed  doors,  his 
own  view  unobstructed,  this  godly  man,  with  the  aid 
of  Oyea,  a  Christian  accomplice's  assurances,  had 


YODOGIMA  153 

penetrated  deeper  than  the  veil  donned  in  faith  gained 
and  worn  as  a  security  provisioned,  and  discerning 
the  motive  augured  a  fulfilment  that  Yodogima  alone 
had  striven  for  in  vain. 

Once  inside  the  four  walls  of  this  more  than  sacred, 
an  over-beautiful,  a  divinely  wrought,  and  suggest 
ively  potent  place,  our  vainly  beguiled  and  no  less 
hard-pressed  princess  dropped  hopelessly  to  her  knees 
and  gazing  round  saw  no  other  thing  than  one  bewil- 
deringly  done  round  and  covering  of  modestly  drawn 
yet  bewitchingly  significant  prysms  or  reflections  that 
led  apparently  to  or  from  nowhere,  yet  emanating  in  or 
symbolizing  afar  the  one  ideal  that  had  lured  her 
thither. 

''At  last!"  whispered  she,  as  the  sun  above  gathered 
and  mellowed,  merging  and  intertwining  the  fanciful 
and  the  real,  till  comprehension  ceased  and  ideality 
carried  her  aloft  the  world  she  knew. 

Only  the  soft  matting  underneath  served  her  now 
prostrate  form;  the  spirit  ceased  its  aching  quest:  a 
reality  bordering  the  extremes  of  ethereal  generation 
possessed  her.  The  great  sun  seemed  marshaling  its 
hosts.  Glad  bugles  sounded.  A  myriad  cupids,  winged 
as  doves  and  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  balanced 
and  made  ready  for  the  flight.  The  great  father  of 
fathers  reached  into  his  mighty  knapsack,  and  Yodo 
gima  breathed  sparingly  lest  he  withdraw  empty  the 
hand  she  longed  to  realize  filled.  The  good  benefactor 
smiled,  and  that  she  sorrow  no  more  revealed  to  her 
the  jewel  —  it  was  a  son.  And  as  the  troopers  charged 


154  YODOGIMA 

earthward,  their  purpose  revealing  itself  in  every 
fiber,  the  glad  tidings  of  a  fulfilment  worthy  and  com 
plete  filling  her  to  overflowing,  Yodogima  opened 
wide  her  eyes,  and  —  Katsutoya  stood  over  her. 

Her  dream,  then,  was  in  truth  an  unthinkable  real 
ity  :  faith,  as  designed,  a  pregnant  hoax. 

Words  were  wrorse  than  useless  now,  and  the  body 
as  helpless;  thus  Yodogima  only  stared,  the  harder: 
with  one  furtive  glance  Katsutoya  read  her  innermost 
thoughts,  and  flushing  to  the  full  bent  his  knee  with 
partings  still  baser : 

"Trust  me,  Yodogima :  henceforth  I  am  Harunaga." 
Yodogima  did  not  attempt  to  answer  her  traducer, 
who  departed  as  he  had  entered,  professing  the  be 
stowal,  only,  of  mercies  latent  underneath  the  sack 
cloth  and  of  the  beadroll.  She  lay  submerged  now; 
overweighted  with  a  fantasy  as  far  beneath  the  earth 
she  abode  as  fancy  had  heretofore  carried  her  above 
it.  Darkness  came  on,  tremors  marked  some  hard  in 
ternal  disturbance,  while  yawning  caverns  fumed  and 
spat  fiery  bursts  and  sulphurous  clouds  from  the 
mountain  away.  The  infernal  possessed  her.  A  huge 
dragon,  half  within,  half  without,  at  the  summit,  coil 
ing  and  straightening,  lifting  and  lowering,  seeking  and 
searching,  here  and  there,  all  around,  to  the  horizon, 
at  last  found  her  out,  and  mounting  its  slender  neck, 
with  no  hold  to  retain  her  balance,  the  monster,  rising 
with  her,  curved  easily  round  and,  retracing  its  slimy 
part,  disappeared  into  the  uttermost  depths  of  hades 
itself. 


YODOG1MA  155 

And  there  Ono  Harunaga  sweat  and  forked  at 
building  the  fires.  Great  heaps  of  humans  replen 
ished  the  fuel  bins.  These  Yodogima  scanned  with 
eagerness :  many  faces  seemed  familiar,  but  always 
before  she  could  come  close  enough  to  determine  cer 
tainly  who  the  victim  was,  Harunaga  had  snatched 
away  and  pitched  him  into  the  flames  beyond  her 
reach  or  discernment.  \Yhich  eager  haste  seemed 
quite  unreasonable  to  her,  but  upon  questioning  him 
he  answered  resolutely  as  of  old : 

''Have  faith  in  —  " 

Yodogima  did  not  exactly  catch  the  last  word  in  his 
reply,  but  she  could  not  believe  it  "Christ"  or 
"l.uddha"  or  "Confucius,"  or  any  like  name  that  she 
knew,  because  the  furnace  fender  were  himself  a 
reverend  man.  Xo  Shinto  patron  had  been  named ; 
these  were  gods:  the  antithesis  of  Saviors,  hence  in 
fact  and  not  on  trust. 

Once  she  thought  she  saw  her  father,  but  upon 
closer  scrutiny  discerned  this  victim's  plight  to  be  in 
consequence  of  the  vain  ambitions  of  three  unfaith 
ful  daughters,  hence  knew  that  she  must  have  mistaken 
him.  This  almost  inexcusable  blunder  shocked  her 
severely,  and  to  avoid  any  further  unpleasantness  of 
that  sort  Yodogima  determined,  as  she  were  there,  to 
do  as  others  did ;  disguise  her  own  true  self,  and  rely 
wholly  upon  deception  to  carry  her  forward  thence  in 
the  quest  of  all  things  hellish.  Therefore  she  began 
ignoring  the  individual,  and  continued  considering 
altogether  the  classes;  and  as  there  appeared  to  be 


156  YODOGIMA 

only  one  such  there,  she  hit  upon  the  plan  of  segre 
gating  Harunaga's  vast  unrealized  mass  of  strident 
humans  by  considering  more  their  color.  And  here, 
too,  distinguishment  proved  difficult,  though  there 
appeared  to  be,  distinctly,  some  awful  difference  in 
the  flame  if  white  fuel  were  added,  or  the  reverse. 
The  former  flared  more  fiercely,  burned  the  less  will 
ingly,  and  their  screams  — 

Rising  to  her  feet  and  looking  round  at  the  barren 
walls  yet  enclosing  her,  Yodogima  realized  for  the 
first  time  that  what  we  think  we  see  is  but  the  shadow 
of  an  energy  stupidly  awaiting  over  there  the  magic 
wand  here  to  unfold. 

Intelligence  had  wrought  a  true  womanhood. 

But  invoke  it,  and  the  world  itself  were  a  fairyland 
—  let  gods  be  gods  and  the  rest  each  his  allotted  part 
endure.  She  would  live  down  the  sin  of  beguiling, 
and  bring  to  earth  with  ambition's  might  the  heaven 
she  had  fancied  above. 


YODOGIMA  157 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

WITH  her  eyes  thus  opened,  Yodogima  had  re 
solved,  perhaps  too  quickly,  most  likely  alto 
gether  out  of  proportion  to  existing  capacities,  for 
Japan  withal  Hideyoshi's  democratic  tendencies  had 
not  then  come  to  recognize  woman  as  a  factor  in  the 
determining  of  codes  or  the  framing  of  morals.  True, 
women  had  progressed,  side  by  side  with  their  gal 
lants,  down  through  all  the  chivalrous  Ashikaga  cen 
turies,  but  only  in  a  passive  way.  She  yet  carried  the 
shackles  inherited  of  Jingo's  daring  audacity,  and 
none  had  risen  to  do  more  than  suffer  the  penalties 
exacted  of  a  confiding  and  repentant,  if  jealous,  half 
in  kind.  Yodogima,  though  convinced  of  its  suscep 
tibility  on  the  one  hand  and  pother  on  the  other,  would 
not  concede  that  sex  were  or  could  be  made  a  lasting 
turnstile,  through  which  to  thresh  or  encourage 
humans. 

"They  have  tricked  and  robbed,  now  coerce  me.' 
reasoned  she,  to  herself,  the  while  groping  her  way 
and  pondering  the  consequences,  upon  that  dark, 
quiet  night,  toward  the  home  she  had  earlier  left  un 
stained  and  in  faith.  "Man,  no  less  his  better  half, 
is  a  brute ;  born  of  lust  and  scarce  started  on  the  Way. 
His  heart  —  ah !  there  lies  the  secret,  herein  uncoils 
a  thread,  and  I'll  begin  it  all  over  again  by  attempting 
to  rewind  the  broken  strands  of  my  little  life  —  in  the 


158  YODOGIMA 

manner  of  their  own  eternally  begotten  process.  De 
ception  only  may  be  sinful,  while  failure  we  know  to 
be  hailed  not  as  a  virtue.  Success,  oh,  so  divine!  I 
think  I  know  you  now,  whereas  before  I've  only 
dreamed." 

Upon  reaching  the  castle,  much  excitement  pre 
vailed.  Though  the  morning  was  yet  early,  troops 
were  on  the  move,  and  where  hitherto  peace  had  held 
all  at  last  seemed  making  ready  for  some  big,  uncer 
tain  undertaking.  Kuroda  had  been  relieved  of  duty 
there  and  sent  to  the  front.  All  the  faithful  were 
withdrawn  and  Christians  placed  in  stead  to  guard 
the  gates  in  front:  Kitagira  left  in  charge,  Hideyoshi 
had  gone  elsewhere,  thus  relieving  Yodogima  of  the 
probability  of  any  immediate  contact. 

Shut  up  alone  at  the  castle,  relieved  of  the  embar 
rassment  auguring  in  Kuroda's  presence,  or  others  of 
the  old  school,  whom  she  could  scarce  resist,  and  sur 
rounded  with  a  guard  more  in  keeping  with  her  neces 
sities,  if  not  motive,  Yodogima  planned  afresh,  as 
hitherto  she  had  only  hoped. 

In  time,  as  well,  her  face  brightened,  for  Jokoin 
had  come  to  remain  with  her  during  Hideyoshi's 
absence,  and  sooner  married  to  Kyogoku,  of  course, 
between  the  two  of  them  there  should  be  little  doubt 
about  rendering  the  taiko  a  son.  Only  time  hung 
heavily  upon  her  hands;  no  such  preparations  had 
been  made  within  the  memory  of  man  as  that  waged 
against  innocent  Korea'.  Hideyoshi  had  demanded  of 
them  that  they  join  him  in  no  less  an  undertaking 


YODOGIMA  159 

than  the  conquest  of  mighty  C'hina,  and  refusing  had 
thrown  his  force-  against  them,  first  to  compel  their 
aid,  and  secondly  to  open  the  doors  to  that  larger 
ambition  of  his,  looked  upon  by  all  alike  as  hardly 
more  than  mad. 

A  formidable  army  it  was,  too,  that  he  had  gotten 
together,  in  three  divisions,  dispatching  one  under 
the  command  each  of  Kato  Kiyomasa  and  Konishi 
Yukinaga  —  with  Ukita  Hiclaye  in  higher  authority 
—  holding  the  other  in  reserve  at  Xagoya,  on  the  west 
ern  coast  of  Kyushu;  where  Hideyoshi  himself  had 
established  headquarters,  the  better  to  direct  supreme 
control. 

Thirst  for  gain,  now,  had  won  the  support  of  every 
daimyo  in  the  land ;  the  loyal  and  the  disgruntled  alike ; 
of  which  he  had  ad\i>ed  Yodogima,  fully,  at  their  la-t 
meeting  —  the  possible  consequence  startling  her  into 
the  making  of  any  sacrifice  to  save  him. 

"My  power  over  others  has  been  gained  by  the 
sword,"  argued  he,  "because  of  selecting  well  and  be- 
-  towing  better:  to  the  victor  belongs  the  spoils,  and 
greed  once  the  encouragement  there  is  no  end ;  I  must 
seek  further  resources  elsewhere  than  at  home;  this 
held  is  exhausted  ;  the  cry  for  an  heir  is  but  the  pre 
lude  to  gold  —  and  why  fret  my  life  away  mourning 
the  failure  of  a  son  ?  China  is  worth  while  and  Hide- 
yoxlii  its  greater." 

The  lire  flashed  as  of  old  in  his  eyes,  but  Yodo 
gima  knew  better  the  heart  —  nor  had  Esyo  misjudged 
the  elder  sister's  influence  or  the  position  promising. 


160  YODOGIMA 

Hideyoshi  had  quelled  the  mob,  but  failed  at  organiza 
tion  :  should  any  such  vital  realization  be  let  to  stand 
Yodogima  in  hand?  Ought  her  sister,  though  older 
and  "more  handsome,"  be  permitted  to  indulge  undy 
ing  fame,  while  she,  if  younger,  yet  "her  superior," 
remain  just  an  unthanked  adviser  to  a  daimyo  like 
lyeyasu?  Not  if  she  could  prevent  it. 

"Accept  of  this  invitation,  from  Hideyoshi,  to  join 
them,  in  the  plundering  of  others  —  though  you  have 
no  need  or  desire  for  booty,"  urged  Esyo,  advising 
lyeyasu,  her  guardian.  "It  may  be  the  means  of  prov 
ing  what  I  have  contended  these  many  years,  and 
lyeyasu  —  greater  than  Hideyoshi  —  may  yet  see  his 
way  clear,  or  father  somehow  the  conscience,  to  make 
Esyo  —  worthier  than  Yodogima  —  his  wife." 

lyeyasu  pondered,  possibly  frowned:  still  waited. 

"Get  as  close  as  you  can,  to  this  monkey-faced  ty 
rant,"  continued  she,  "and  some  unlooked-for  rid 
dance  may  discreetly  arise.  On  the  way,  I  shall,  with 
your  permission,  pay  Yodogima  a  visit :  I  think  I  can 
unearth  the  likelihood :  her  scheme  we  already  know. 
You  are  rich  and  powerful  now ;  Yedo  has  thrived 
beyond  their  knowledge,  though  Hideyoshi  is  said  once 
upon  a  time  to  have  seen  without  eyes.  I  tell  you,  the 
Tokugawa  (lyeyasu's  family:  its  name)  is  a  possi 
bility.  Trust  me,  lyeyasu;  will  you  not,  just  this 
once  ?" 

lyeyasu  hesitated,  yet  waited.  True  he  had  risen 
to  the  topmost  rank  as  a  daimyo,  outstripping  any 
other  in  wealth  and  strength,  but  this  he  believed  due 


YODOGIMA  161 

more  to  his  own  patient  plodding  and  dogged  per 
sistence  than  to  what  with  Esyo's  brilliant  scheming 
and  multitudinous  plans.  Still  he  respected  her ;  per 
haps  because  Yodogima,  however  set  aside,  had  con 
stantly  borne  deeper  into  his  affections;  Saji  proved 
a  bore,  from  the  start,  as  expected,  and  Esyo's  men 
tality,  always  agreeable,  failed  of  heart.  A  deeper 
interest  gripped  him,  would  not  let  go,  but  wait  he 
must. 

Those  cold,  hard-studied  assurances,  not  flattery, 
of  Esyo's,  did  not,  however,  displease  lyeyasu.  Yet 
they  failed  to  move  him ;  and  when  he  did,  at  last, 
start  on  that  journey,  which  was  forever  to  open  his 
eyes  to  larger  contemplation,  it  had  been  on  other 
grounds;  lyeyasu  feared  Hideyoshi ;  he  dared  not  dis 
regard  the  command,  and  went  as  others  did :  to  save 
their  necks,  and  reap  the  beggarly  bounty  gratuitiously 
suffered. 

Once  at  Nagoya,  however,  Hideyoshi's  temporary 
headquarters,  lyeyasu  again  rapidly  rose  in  favor; 
he  apparently  had  no  axe  of  his  own  to  grind,  and 
the  taiko  believed  him  capable. 

"I  shall  leave  you  in  charge,  at  home,  and  myself 
cross  the  channel,  into  Korea,"  threatened  Hideyoshi, 
upon  receipt  of  bad  news  from  the  field ;  "this  Hidaye 
is  making  a  mess  of  it,  and  what  is  left  of  the  advance 
shall  have  more  need  of  my  presence,  before  the  river 
Ta-dong  is  crossed  and  Chinese  soil  has  inspired  them 
to  renewed  effort.  Do  you  accept  this  responsibility 
of  a  freewill?" 


1 62  YODOGIMA 

Possibly  Hideyoshi  had  sooner  surmised,  hence 
inquired  the  truth,  for  lyeyasu  again  hesitated;  he 
had  previously  counselled  with  Oyea,  and  now  pos 
sessed  fresh  intelligence  at  Esyo's  hands. 

"Let  him  go,"  proposed  she;  and,  if  he  had  gone, 
Yodogima' s  further  troubles  were  saved  —  not,  it  is 
true,  as  Esyo  planned. 

Upon  visiting  Yodogima,  as  permitted,  Esyo  had 
found  not  only  the  one  but  the  other  of  her  sisters 
there  —  portending,  to  her  way  of  thinking,  some 
what,  if  not  dreadfully,  suspicious  circumstances. 

"How  you  look,  Yodogima ;  and  Jokoin,  too.  I  am 
awfully  surprised.  Is  it  really  true  —  and  how?  Oyea 
just  said  that  Hideyoshi  —  and  I  promised  not  to  tell. 
How  stupid  I  am !  Of  course  Jokoin  might  be  ex 
pected  —  but  Yodogima  !  How  dare  you  trust  your 
self  to  the  wiles  of  these  Christians?  Why,  they  are 
even,  at  the  gate.  I  hope  you  have  not  the  courage 
to  permit  their  coming  closer?  And  my  gown;  per 
haps  they  have  already  soiled  this  very  mat?  I  think 
I  must  be  going  —  you  have,  I'm  sure,  observed  the 
make  and  the  fineness  of  it?  lyeyasu  gave  it  to  me, 
in  anticipation  of  our  marriage  —  and  we  had  thought 
of  inviting  you,  just  to  see  our  home,  but  —  these 
Christians  !  I  never  could  bear  the  thought  —  good 
bye  —  I  must  be  going  —  you  have  my  best  wishes  — 
good-bye." 

Yodogima  and  Jokoin  only  stared  at  each  other ; 
Esyo  had  come  upon  them  with  no  more  ceremony 
than  at  departing,  and  they  were  puzzled  to  know  the 


YOlHHilMA  163 

meaning  of  her  unexpected  visit:  the  younger  of  the 
two  may  have  man,  eiled  the  audacity  of  her  bearing; 
it  i>  certain  that  the  eldest  had  good  rea>on  to  question 
the  truthfulness  of  her  statement,  and  did. 

At  Azuchi,  Esyo  had  fared  or  demeaned  herself 
differently.  Both  she  and  lyeyasu  had  called  there, 
by  invitation — contemplated,  no  doubt,  on  both  sides 
—  and  Oyea,  alone  and  undi>turbed,  took  great  pains 
to  advise  the  latter,  to  the  former's  entire  satisfac- 
tiou,  of  some  things  that  were,  if  to  be  seen,  only  too 
patent ;  also,  of  many  that  were  perhaps  in  truth  the 
creatures  of  her  imagination  or  purpose.  She  had 
-aid  nothing  of  Vodogima's  venturing  to  the  temple, 
though  she  knew,  to  say  the  least,  that  she  had  been 
there  —  a  circumstance,  in  itself,  to  be  jealously 
guarded ;  particularly  as  indited  of  discretion  or  neces 
sity,  possibly  both;  lyeyasu,  at  all  events,  would  brook 
no  tampering  with  the  Buddha  as  adapted,  for  all  hi- 
research,  into  the  religions  of  the  world,  especially 
Confucianism,  had  only  grounded  him  the  firmer. 

"It  is  this  Christian  influence  that  plays  havoc  at 
( )/aka,"  promised  she,  to  lyeyasu,  who  had  risen  to 
depart  for  the  \Vest.  "They  are  in  evidence,  if  not 
of  authority — I  won't  accuse  Yodogima;  she  is  too 
discreet  —  at  the  castle,  and  as  sure  as  I  live  they 
are  in  command  at  the  front !  I  do  believe  Hideyoshi 
has  fairly  gone  mad." 

''Are  you  not  a  convert?  I  was  informed  that  you 
were,"  ventured  lyeyasu. 

"True,  I  was ;  therefore  might  be  given  credit  for 


164  YODOGIMA 

knowing  whereof  I  speak.  And  more,  let  Hideyoshi 
substitute  my  nephew,  Kobayakawa  Hideki,  one  of 
our  kind,  for  that  outcast  convert,  Hidaye,  his  Korean 
field  marshal,  and  lyeyasu  shall  not  suffer,  I  promise 
you,  therefor." 

Going  his  way,  without  further  parley  or  consulta 
tion  about  propriety,  fully  confirmed  in  and  satisfied 
with  his  own  views,  concerning  the  priesthood,  and 
Christianity  in  general,  lyeyasu  cogitated  alarm;  the 
new  religion's  hold  upon  the  government,  slight  as  it 
was,  as  yet,  or  its  influence  over  the  taiko,  if  any  — 
a  thing  he  very  much  doubted  —  could  be,  easily 
enough,  as  he  thought,  stayed  or  disposed,  but  Yodo- 
gima  !  How,  then,  could  he  save  her  ? 

"But  why  bother  about  it?  She  is  nothing  to  me, 
and,  come  to  think,  it  might  be  best,  as  urged,  to 
marry  Esyo,  and  make  an  end  of  it.  I'll  test  Hide 
yoshi,  however,  before  committing  myself,"  threat 
ened  he,  hastening  toward  the  end  of  his  journey, 
there  to  spy  rather  than  serve,  while  Esyo  schemed, 
no  more  discreetly,  at  the  capital. 

As  it  turned  out,  there  proved  no  need  of  his 
waiting,  this  time,  as  concerned,  however,  only  the 
witnessing  of  results ;  the  test  had  been,  to  his  sur 
prise,  occasioned  fairly  beforehand:  from  an  unex 
pected  source,  as  well,  hence  doubly  instructive.  Jo- 
koin  had  before  this,  as  might  have  been  anticipated, 
connived  the  assistance  of  Yodogima  in  exacting  from 
Hideyoshi  permission  for  the  return  to  Japan,  and 
their  settlement  at  Nagasaki,  near  Hideyoshi's  present 


YODOGIMA  165 

headquarters,  of  the  priests ;  who  had  been,  some 
time  before,  expelled  for  acts"  of  intolerance  and  vio 
lence  —  such  as  the  burning  of  temples  and  the  killing 
of  bonzes,  and  others  whom  they  could  not  convert 
and  dared  molest  —  that  had  unquestionably  settled 
for  once  and  for  all,  in  the  mind  of  every  loyal  sub 
ject,  the  temper  of  these  godly  men  and  as  well  the 
drift  of  their  converted  allies. 

This  sudden  turnover  of  Hideyoshi's  startled  lye- 
yasu;  he  could  not  account  for  it,  not  knowing  the 
source,  and  Yodogima  held  her  counsel  as  well  as 
Jokoin's.  She  had  a  part  of  her  own  to  play  now, 
and  may  have  served  some  deeper  purpose  than  a 
sister's  sympathetic  whim  by  temporizing  for  the  mo 
ment  with  an  ousted  sect  more  at  variance  from  her 
own  views  than  any  other  hitherto  attempted  importa 
tion  by  upstart  or  trader.  At  all  events  they  came, 
and  their  apparent  entireness  of  reinvestiture  at  once 
paralyzed  further  conjecture. 

"So  this  is  the  kind  of  keep  the  taiko  would  assign 
me?"  queried  lyeyasu,  of  Asano  Nagamasa,  a  friend 
ly  co-supporter.  "Most  likely,  between  two  such 
fires,  a  Christian  propaganda  and  an  infidel  ruler, 
lyeyasu,  his  professed  friend,  might  well  be  rid.  I 
shall  not  remain :  we  must  devise  some  means." 

"Hideyoshi  is  mad,"  replied  Nagamasa,  in  a  high 
voice  and  nervous  manner. 

An  attendant,  within  hearing,  forthwith  reported 
this  last  speech  to  his  master,  Hideyoshi :  a  hubbub 
ensued,  and  no  further  occasion  became  necessary  to 


i66  YODOGIMA 

warrant  their  remaining  at  home;  Xagamasa  was  sent 
to  his  fief  in  disgrace,  and  lyeyasu  questioned. 

"There  is  a  lesson  that  we  should  heed  in  this  accu 
sation  by  Nagamasa;  who  loves  you  as  he  does  his 
life ;  the  barons  have  been,  as  you  well  know,  sub 
jected  by  force,  and  with  the  master  gone  out  of  the 
country  they  should  be  ill  content  to  wear  the  yoke: 
lyeyasu  is  not  the  man  to  do  Hideyoshi's  work/' 
argued  lyeyasu,  to  Hideyoshi,  discreetly :  with  a  pur 
pose  and  an  estimation  not  wholly  made  known. 

"What  you  say  is  true,  but  I  shall  go ;  I  have  better 
counsel,"  retorted  Hideyoshi,  not  the  least  bit  per 
turbed  at  heart  or  altered  in  purpose  by  his  antago 
nist's  insinuations. 

"Yes;  at  Ozaka.  As  you  have,  also,  the  prospect 
of  an  heir,"  ventured  lyeyasu,  conserving  well  an 
only  opportunity. 

"What?" 

"It  is   as   I   say." 

"Then  you  are  a  better  man  than  I ;  I  did  not  know 
as  much." 

"Thank  you,"  replied  lyeyasu,  not  any  the  more  dis 
concerted  by  the  master's  thrust. 

Hideyoshi  for  once  looked  lyeyasu  squarely  in  the 
eyes. 

"Well?"  inquired  the  underling,  boldly. 

"If  you  have  spoken  truly  —  your  fortune  is  made; 
if  not  —  I  shall  send  you  to  Korea,"  replied  Hide 
yoshi,  composedly. 


YODOG1MA  167 

"Then  —  I  am  a  made  man,"  retorted  lyeyasu, 
seemingly  settled  upon  some  sort  of  true  conviction. 

Interpreting  IveyasuV  la>t  remark  in  the  most  fa 
vorable  light,  as  alway>  done,  when  possible,  llide- 
yo-hi's  enthusiasm  waxed  .significantly,  if  unexpect 
ed},  afresh.  At  last  lyeyasu,  by  a  ruse,  had  done 
something  more  than  wait;  the  Chinese  fantasy  had 
been  brought  suddenly  to  a  halt,  and  Japan  saved 
probable  humiliation,  to  say  nothing  of  absolute  de 
feat  ;  Hidaye  had  already  been  all  but  crushed,  and 
that,  too,  without  getting  beyond  the  confines  of  weak, 
unprepared,  and  unwarlike  Korea.  Had  Hideyoshi 
himself  left  Japanese  soil,  with  his  contemplated  re- 
-erve  force,  the  trap  laid  by  the  wily  Chin  Ikei,  China's 
over-matching  envoy,  might  have  defeated  more 
potent,  if  less  fantastic,  ambitions  even  than  Hide- 
yoshi's. 

Xone,  but  one,  knew  better  than  lyeyasu  the  futility 
of  the  taiko's  foreign  project,  nor  was  he  any  the 
los  positive  whom  that  might  be,  or  of  her  desperate 
struggle  against  almost  certain  disaster:  yet  he  be 
lieved  Hideyoshi  the  father  of  her  child,  and  bided 
thence  patiently  the  further  exactions  of  an  inner 
conscience. 

"She  is  both  worthy  and  capable,"  reasoned  he,  to 
himself,  contentedly,  "and  I  shall  lu-iicefm-th  follow 
in  the  wake  of  an  ambition  higher  than  mine,  more 
tolerable  than  Hidcyo-hiV 

Maeda  Toshiye  left  in  charge,  the  taiko  forthwith 
abandoned  forever  the  cam])  at  Nagoya,  and  hasten- 


168  YODOGIMA 

ing  to  Ozaka  found  Yodogima  ill  prepared  to  receive 
him.  He  had  come  unbidden,  and  demanding  entrance 
to  her  boudoir,  was  denied:  Hideyoshi  fumed  and 
stormed.  Ishida,  however,  calmed  him;  he,  too,  had 
found  it  convenient  or  desirable  to  court  favor  and 
spy  out  an  advantage  there,  and  Kyogoku  alone  had 
been  the  means  of  his  coming ;  Jokoin  had  also  denied 
him,  her  husband,  any  sort  of  entrance  —  thus  Ishida 
had  been  privileged  happily  to  win  as  well  as  serve  the 
good  will  also  of  Yodogima. 

Seven  days  had  elapsed,  and  in  that  time  Ishida 
proved  himself  not  only  a  master  of  ceremonies  but  a 
diplomat  to  be  reckoned  with  thereafter;  both  Hide 
yoshi  and  Yodogima,  presumably  from  different  stand 
points,  recognized  the  service,  and  though  absent, 
lyeyasu  no  doubt  had  ample  occasion  to  surmise  the 
rapid  rising  of  an  influence  hitherto  not  at  all  sus 
pected. 

The  days,  however,  passed  quietly,  and  presently 
the  door  to  the  taiko's  chamber  slid  back  gently  and 
unobserved.  Hideyoshi  sat  with  his  elbows  resting 
upon  his  knees  and  his  face  buried  in  his  hands;  re 
straint  had  proven  burdensome,  though  Ishida,  his 
old  body-servant's  counsel  had  strangely  come  to 
wield  over  him  an  influence  little  short  of  Yodogima's 
itself.  Between  the  two,  Yodogima's  wish  and  Ishida's 
advice,  the  taiko  seemed  at  last  utterly  lost. 

"You  are  kind,  Hideyoshi,  to  respect  my  denial : 
pray  do  not  think  me  inconsiderate ;  I  have  news  for 
you ;  it  is  a  son." 


YODOGIMA  169 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  taiko  bounded  up.  That  voice  had  filled 
him  as  a  chorus  resounding  tidings  all  but 
heard  in  vain.  No  footstep  had  broken  his  reverie; 
the  sight  of  her  seemed  as  impossible  as  the  halo  in 
volving  his  desire ;  the  air  he  breathed  had  lost  its 
fragrance,  the  ta^te  congealed,  and  the  touch  dead 
ened,  but  another  sense  had  called  him  to  life;  Yodo- 
gima  confronted  him. 

There  she  stood,  within  reach,  sublimer,  if  could  be, 
than  before.  Words  had  vainly  made  her  message 
better  understood :  not  a  moment  would  he  lose,  yet  — 

"Oh,  God,  who  am  I  to  stand  here  like  dumb  ?  How 
is  it,  these  limbs  fail  me  now,  oh,  so  bitterly?  What 
devil  stands  between  us?  Or,  is  it  lack  of  devil,  and 
Kami  that  denies?  Answer  me,  you  who  can!" 

Hideyoshi  fell  to  the  floor  whence  he  had  risen. 
The  golden  bowl  was  not  broken,  for  the  want  of  one. 
Charm  had  not  entered,  hence  could  not  depart.  No 
affinity  proffered  its  good  office.  Love  held  forth  else 
where  in  the  mighty  circle,  and  these  two  searched 
their  way  under  a  solstice  as  blank  as  inevitable. 

Yodogima,  too,  sank  down,  disappointed  and  fear 
ful,  upon  the  mat  in  front  of  her  lawful  lord.  The 
child  lay  coddling  in  its  lap,  and  her  eyes  beheld  therein 
a  joy  that  radiates  only  as  ordained.  The  picture  over 
came  him.  He  could  not  face  the  truth  of  her  posi- 


1 70  YODOGIMA 

tiori,  and  her  eyes  riveting  upon  the  sacred  book  un 
folding  before  them  denied  him  the  only  lie  that  man 
ever  made  in  virtuous  part.  All  the  laws  of  heaven 
or  man,  cause  and  effect,  could  stay  the  hand  nor 
deaden  the  heart  to  that  loftier  reach,  that  unquench 
able  thirst,  that  touchless  affinity,  which  made  man 
what  he  is,  as  compared  with  the  pitiful  sight  we 
sometimes  see,  only  to  wish  it  an  unreality,  that  hairy 
monster,  perched  upon  his  hinder  part,  his  arms  droop 
ing  in  front  and  his  face  a  blank,  that  living,  suggest 
ive,  appealing,  undriveable  thing  we  are  always  wont 
but  mostly  loath  to  call  baboon. 

"Oh!"  cried  he,  inwardly,  "am  I  so  lost  as  to  sit 
here  as  if  mad?  This  woman  is  stronger  than  I,  in 
the  face  of  harsher  trials.  Be  a  man,  Hideyoshi." 

Thence  he  arose,  and  approaching,  vainly  seated 
himself  directly  in  front  of  Yodogima.  The  child 
cooed  on,  but  two  strong  hearts  waxed  high  over  it, 
with  larger  interest  and  harder  conflict,  as  lions  tram 
ple  their  brood  or  the  bird-fkind  but  empty  a  nest  in 
its  defense. 

"Pardon  me,  Yodogima,"  begged  he,  cowering 
before  her,  his  very  soul  the  price,  "it  is  so  sudden  — 
let  me  see  your  eyes,  Yodogima  —  speak  to  me ;  I 
cannot  bear  longer  the  suspense." 

Yodogima  considerately  raised  her  eyes  to  his :  they 
reflected  back  only  the  likeness  of  a  man  who  had 
never  yet  failed  to  penetrate  deeper,  but  now  the 
heart  seemed  obscured  by  that  self-same  image. 

"The  child,  Yodogima ;  let  me  look  into  its  face." 


YODOGLMA  171 

Yodogima  tenderly,  perhaps  proudly,  tendered  the 
little  babe,  robed  and  attended  a-  if  want  to  invite 
really  the  gods  to  worship  at  nativity's  shrine.  It 
was  a  pretty  boy,  bearing  traces  in  every  feature  of 
its  chivalrous  ancestry:  Hideyoshi  had  been  proud, 
would  have  prostituted  every  virtue  that  he  possessed 
to  proffer  it  the  crown  he  had  wrought,  but — • 

"lyeyasu !"  conjured  he,  half  in  rage,  half  in  fear. 

Yodogima  turned  white,  then  livid  ;  the  child's  doom 
induced  the  former,  but  duty  quickly  inspired  thoughts 
restoring  a  healthier,  heartier  action  of  that  one  sense 
underlying  the  most  vital  of  nature's  primal  instincts. 

"Calm  yourself,  Yodogima ;  have  no  fear  of  man  or 
devil;  Hideyoshi  would  burn  down  there  before  the 
name  or  a  hair  of  that  child's  mother  should  suffer 
the  discredit  of  a  moment's  reflection.  More  I  can 
not  say  now :  grant  me  time ;  it  shall  not  be  long ;  I 
would  go  no  farther  than  Azuchi." 

Mowing  low,  the  taiko  withdrew,  and  not  stopping 
longer  than  to  call  the  norimonos  (chair  men)  hurried 
on,  each  stride  burning  deeper  into  his  heart  the  dread 
that  gripped  him  more  harshly  than  any  death. 

" \Vhat  is  it  that  makes  you  reticent?"  demanded  he. 
of  Oyea,  who  trembled  at  his  presence.  "I  thought 
your  discretion,  if  not  his  tongue,  of  better  promise." 

"Spare  me,  oh,  spare  me,  honorable  master;  it  is  not 
I,  but  the  temple  that  betrayed  you." 

"Ah  —  and  he  was  there? 

"No." 

"Then  you  have  been  —  ' 


172  YODOGIMA 

"No,  no;  yes,  yes  —  " 

"And  know  the  truth,  as  I  do  now.  Come,  demean 
yourself;  I  must  return;  tongues  are  no  doubt  al 
ready  wagging,  whereas  yours  mutely  convinces." 

The  taiko  returned  thence  faster  than  he  had  come. 
A  cloud  had  risen  from  his  mind;  there  in  the  pres 
ence  of  the  one  who  had  stood  at  his  right  through 
all  those  tempestuous  years  the  truth  had  at  last 
dawned :  success  attended  insofar  as  others  profited : 
thirst  might  be  inherited,  but  genius  transmitted  — 
never. 

On  the  way  it  became  necessary  to  pass  directly 
the  new  castle  at  Fushima,  built  for  Hidetsugu,  and 
occupied  as  well,  for  the  present,  by  lyeyasu  as  a 
guest  while  returning  from  Nagoya  to  Yedo.  Hide- 
yoshi,  though  anxious,  could  not  resist  the  temptation 
to  stop  —  assigning  as  an  excuse  some  urgency  that 
he  and  lyeyasu  visit  the  mikado,  since  the  opportunity 
presented  itself.  , 

"But  the  child?  its  birth?  why  not  proclaimed?" 
urged  lyeyasu,  cautiously. 

Hideyoshi  attempted  no  immediate  answer,  but  Ha- 
runaga  did :  pulling  lyeyasu  by  the  sleeve  and  sugges- 
ing  it  a  good  time  to  make  way  with  the  taiko. 

Now  this  perfectly  feasible  undertaking  —  Hide 
yoshi  was  utterly  unprepared  and  without  sufficient 
escort  —  somehow  impressed  itself  directly  upon  him, 
though  he  had  neither  seen  the  act  performed  nor 
heard  the  words  spoken  by  Harunaga ;  whom  he  had 
recognized,  no  sooner  than  seen,  only  a  few  moments 


YODOGIMA  173 

before,  and  upon  inquiry  found  to  be  a  transient  guest 
of  lyeyasu's,  traveling  in  train  toward  the  castle 
Ozaka. 

Our  taiko  marvelled  eagerly  the  circumstance,  and 
bided  patiently  some  opportunity. 

News  of  the  birth  had  in  fact  reached  the  bonze  - 
in  readiness  —  at  Hiyeisan  even  before  Hideyoshi 
himself  had  been  at  all  informed.  Also  the  gossip 
attending  the  taiko's  failure  of  recognition:  stranger 
yet  Oyea's  enforced  acknowledgment  concerning  the 
temple  and  Yodogima  were  known  to  Harunaga  in 
time  for  him  to  discard  his  disguise  as  Katsutoya,  a 
bonze,  and  calling  to  his  aid  some  two  hundred  horse 
men,  held  in  hiding,  make  his  way  as  far  as  Fushima 
before  the  taiko  had  arrived. 

lyeyasu  hesitated ;  true  he  had  not  suspicioned  Ha- 
runaga's  motive,  nor  suspected  his  knowledge  of  or 
interest  in  Yodogima's  affairs,  not  at  all ;  but  his  inter 
ests  dictated,  as  he  believed  and  Hideyoshi  surmised, 
an  altogether  less  inhuman  course. 

"I  am  an  old  man,"  began  Hideyoshi,  addressing 
lyeyasu,  openly,  and  not  without  some  pretty  well  re 
membered  impressions  vividly  made  by  none  other 
than  Yodogima's  long  ago  accurately  aimed  thrusts; 
"J  find  my  sword  heavy;  please  carry  it  for  me." 

lyeyasu  answered  by  saying: 

"I  had  a  dream,  last  night:  I  dreamt  that  Tengu, 
the  hobgoblin,  confronted  me;  and,  of  enormous  pro 
portions,  resolved  himself  into  the  size  of  an  ant  sit 
ting  upon  my  arm:  I  swallowed  him." 


174  YODOGIMA 

"Good,"  replied  Hideyoshi ;  "I  see  the  point;  I  am 
rightly  rebuked,  for  going  about  unattended." 

"Permit  me  to  propose  the  good  offices  of  Haru- 
naga,  as  an  escort  thence  to  Ozaka :  I  need  not  vouch 
for  him,  a  gentleman,  and  the  taiko  is  —  " 

"A  father,"  interposed  Hideyoshi,  looking  Haru- 
naga  squarely  in  the  face. 

The  latter  winced,  but  proffered  his  services,  as 
urged  and  designed  by  lyeyasu. 

At  Ozaka,  notwithstanding  Yodogima's  assurances, 
strange  preparations  were  making  for  defence.  No 
word  had  escaped  her  lips  as  to  the  taiko 's  reception, 
or  purpose  in  leaving,  or  intentions  about  returning. 
An  ugly  silence  cast  its  spell  over  them,  yet  Hidetsugu, 
the  kwambaku,  made  his  jealousy  against  the  new 
born  the  more  apparent  by  finally  withdrawing  to 
reside  permanently  at  Fushima,  and  Ishida  not  at  all 
thereby  deceived,  began  forthwith  the  organizing  of 
a  new  force  no  less  to  protect  the  taiko  than  to  en 
force  the  rights  of  Yodogima  and  her  recently-born 
claimant  to  his  lordship's  intended  succession. 

"Did  you  think  me  long  gone,  Yodogima?"  inquired 
Hideyoshi,  approaching  her,  at  ease,  and  alone,  in  the 
great  chamber,  just  off  her  own  boudoir.  "I  was  de 
layed  no  more  against  luck  than  strangely;  Harunaga 
is  here,  now,  in  the  castle:  in  fact,  came  with  me." 

His  words  were  wasted,  for  Yodogima  at  once  arose 
to  greet  him,  and  never  before  did  she  seem  quite 
as  graceful :  her  hair,  loose  and  massive,  hung  in 
wavelets  far  below  her  slender  neck;  the  eyes  fairly 


YODOGIMA  175 

burned  as  before,  softened  only  with  a  compassion 
new  and  compelling;  a  complexion  vet  bearing  the 
undercast  of  an  ordeal  intensifying  the  more  its  natu 
rally  olive-like  hue,  that  long  flowing  gown  of  silken 
white  which  Hideyoshi  had  longed  to  see,  and  a  voice 
modulated  with  the  sweetness  of  motherhood  —  the 
taiko  believed  her  in  truth  a  goddess,  thence  pro 
strated  himself  at  the  purport  of  her  answer: 

"You  alone  are  welcome,  Tlideyoslii." 

"But  the  child.   Yodogima?" 

"Shall  I  present  it?" 

"Yes;  it  is  mine;  I  name  him  Ilideyori;  let  lan 
terns  be  hung  everywhere,  proclaiming  Hideyoshi's 
-uccessor; 'you  are  his  rightful  mother,  and  my  sole 
support;  believe  me,  Yodogima  :  [  swear  it." 


176  YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  XX 

WITH  due  promulgation,  Hideyori's  advent 
occasioned  upon  the  surface  great  rejoicing 
everywhere  throughout  the  land.  Especially  were  the 
tidings  well  received  at  Ozaka  and  thereabout :  still 
more  earnestly  by  the  older  of  Hideyoshi's  immediate 
supporters  —  those  captains  who  had  fought  side  by 
side  with  him  from  obscurity  to  mastery ;  none  among 
them  had  so  forgotten  his  duty  as  to  think  of  inde 
pendent  action  or  listen  to  a  suggestion  in  contraven 
tion  of  the  taiko;  he  had  been  their  guidance,  and 
upon  his  regeneration  depended  their  welfare ;  the 
father  at  once  became  a  god,  and  the  son  his  natural 
prognosticator. 

Quite  different,  however,  with  those  forced  or  toler 
ated  into  submission.  lyeyasu  had  not  tried  out  his 
capabilities,  and  Ishida  served  only  for  a  purpose. 
Neither  had  sown  that  others  might  reap:  each  had 
awaited  the  harvest  as  best  suited  his  particular  need 
or  environment ;  and  now,  at  last,  dissension  foreboded 
their  several  necessities.  Both,  therefore,  sought  with 
out  delay  to  strengthen  either  one  his  own  conjectured 
position,  in  view  of  the  taiko's  possible  retirement. 

''You  have  no  need  to  make  oath,  Hideyoshi,"  prom 
ised  Yodogima,  in  answer  to  his  further  protesta 
tions  ;  "my  interests  and  your  purpose  within  them 
selves  make  us  but  one.  Command  me." 


Y<  )!)()<  IIMA  177 

''Let  some  fitting  entertainment  be  had ;  I  have  now 
an  heir,  peace  is  at  home,  and  China,  I  am  told,  sends 
an  envoy  to  crown  me  emperor;  what  greater  joy 
could  be?" 

To  this  proposal  Yodogima  made  no  protest,  in  fact 
encouraged  its  doing,  yet  knew  full  well  the  purport 
and  surmised  an  eagerness  on  the  part  of  every 
daimvo  —  invited  or  not  —  to  seize  any  opportunity 
to  test  underhandedly  his  influence  or  lay  discreetly 
some  self-bettered  plan.  The  taiko  had  whipped  them 
into  subjection  and  she  herself  borne  him  a  recog 
nized  successor,  but  would  the  nation  accept  an  au 
thority  incapable  of  enforcing  itself?  Could  indi 
vidual  powers  be  transmitted  in  the  absence  of  per 
sonal  prowess?  In  fact,  were  they  a  nation  as  yet? 
If  not,  then  what,  required? 

These  were  some  of  the  questions  vitally  confront 
ing  Yodogima  at  the  very  outset  of  her  enlarged 
career,  and  she  had  answered  each  satisfactorily  to 
herself:  the  husband's  declining  whimsicalities,  pre 
sumably  more  tolerable  than  impressive  to  others - 
in  view  of  their  several  intentions  and  universal  un- 
preparedness  —  should  be  made  to  promote  not  only 
a  devoted  life's  well  earned  vacation,  but  to  attend  as 
well  the  immediate  requirements  of  those  upon  whose 
shoulders  an  unfinished  work  had  certainly,  if  not 
rightfully,  fallen.  The  taiko's  frivolities,  therefore, 
had  been,  likely,  not  only  permitted  but  undertaken, 
and  the  completion  of  the  Fushima  castle  was  made 
the  occasion:  no  captain  would  refuse,  nor  could  any 


1 78  YODOGIMA 

daimyo  have  been  kept  away  except  by  force;  the 
first  longed  to  do  the  master  any  honor,  and  the  others 
to  avail  themselves  of  what  they  designed  making  an 
occasion  for  the  feathering  of  their  own  nests,  no 
matter  when  or  where  the  chance.  Yodogima  had  not 
been  thought  of,  only  as  a  mother,  by  any,  excepting 
possibly  two  —  one  a  daimyo,  the  other  a  bakufu  — 
had  not  been  contemplated  as  inevitably  standing  over 
like  the  sun  emerging  behind  a  receding  storm. 

"You  must  attend,  as  I  direct,"  urged  lyeyasu,  to 
F.syo,  who  persisted  in  declining  an  invitation. 

"I  shall  not,"  replied  she,  deigning  to  proffer  no 
excuse  whatsoever. 

"Well,"  replied  he,  thoughtfully  ;  "this  is  a  dilemma ; 
I  cannot  make  you  go  consistently,  but  I  shall  resolve 
at  least  a  plausible  stay  at  home  —  you  can  have  Hide- 
tada,  my  son ;  perhaps  a  growing  husband  would  suit 
you  better  than  a  declining  suitor.  Take  him  and  wel 
come." 

"Oh,  I  am  not  so  particular;  an  infant  might  per 
chance  serve  me  as  well  as  an  older  man  served  my 
sister.  Then,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  nothing  like 
agreeableness :  Esyo  is  an  obedient  body,  whatever  else 
you  or  others  may  contemplate.  Let's  have  done  with 
it." 

They  were  married  —  she  and  the  infant  Hidetada 
—  and  Esyo,  in  consequence,  excused  attendance  upon 
the  taiko's  grand  cha-no-ytt  (tea-drinking  party)  — 
conserving  probably  lyeyasu's  pleasure  or  safety  no 
more  than  her  own  self-understood  purpose.  i 


VUDUGIMA  179 

i 

Ishida,  on  the  other  hand,  had  brought  all  his  per 
suasion  to  bear  upon  Uyea  —  the  taiko  had  quite 
ignored  or  forgotten  her,  but  Yodogima  had  not. 
Many  of  the  older  eaptains  retained  at  heart  a  warm 
place  for  the  elder  wife,  and  truly  sympathized  with 
her  for  her  many  sacriiices  and  half-requited  sup 
port.  She  had  surrendered  position  and  all  that  goes 
with  it  to  marry  Hideyoshi  in  his  poverty-stricken 
beginning,  and  through  all  the  trials  and  hardships  of 
a  relentless  struggle  had  never  once  lost  faith  or  asked 
a  favor:  Yodogima  appreciated  the  influence  her 
presence  should  have  upon  this  the  most  vital  occa 
sion  at  which  she  had  been  privileged  the  prestige  of 
hostess. 

"i  regret  very  much  Oyea's  decision,"  said  Yodo 
gima,  to  Ishida,  shortly  before  the  time  set  for  the 
entertainment.  "I  wonder  if  some  outside  influence- 
can  deter  her?  1  hardly  think  so,  however;  Oyea  is 
above  suspicion,  and  is  the  closest  friend  I  have,  aside 
my  own  good  sisters.  Please  pay  her  my  best  com 
pliments,  and  use  your  better  judgment  as  to  proper 
measures ;  I  can  easily  enough  overlook  Esyo's  idiosyn- 
cracies,  but  Oyea  is  a  practical  woman." 

"Your  ladyship  is  quite  right,  and  far-seeing  if,  per 
haps,  most  charitable,  though  not  altogether  inatten 
tive.  There  is  an  ulterior  purpose,  I  will  not  say 
reason  —  there  could  be  no  justice  in  any  sort  of 
breach  toward  our  good  princess  —  believe  me,  your 
ladyship  —  Ishida  cannot  speak  otherwise,  and  my 
long  service  as  master  of  ceremonies  to  our  most  ex- 


i8o  VODOGIMA 

cellent  taiko,  his  lordship  —  beginning,  as  your  honor 
able  ladyship  well  knows,  these  many  years  ago  —  as 
I  say,  such  a  round,  so  highly  prized  and  as  graciously 
bestowed,  entitles  one  —  I  dare  say,  that  your  lady 
ship  herself  would  extend  to  an  humbler  subject  a 
consideration  —  arising  only  within  the  bosom  of  a 
traditional  appreciation  little  in  evidence  these  days,  I 
tell  you  —  emanating  from  a  desire  to  do  nothing  con 
trary  to  the  best  ethics  of  the  times  —  dominating  the 
heart-interests  especially  of  that  one  whom  the  master 
has  permitted  us  each  and  all  alike  to  serve  and  revere 
as  jealously  and  considerately  as  the  fleeting  mo 
ments  —  " 

"Time  is  precious.     Pardon  me,  Ishida?" 

"Yes;  as  I  was  about  to  say;  Esyo  out  of  the  way, 
ly eyas u  is  fast  becoming  a  favorite  at  Aztichi ;  and, 
though  only  a  visitor  at  Fushima,  may  bode  more  than 
a  kwambaku's  disseverance.  These  require  drastic 
consideration." 

"Hush.    You  speak  unbecomingly." 

"Excuse  me.  I  have  only  your  ladyship's  best  inter 
ests  at  heart." 

"It  were  more  like  it,  I  trow,  had  you  said  'in  mind,' 
my  good  Ishida." 

"No  less  at  my  finger's  end,  your  ladyship." 

"Boaster  —  one  might  think  you  Sen-no-rikyu  him 
self,  to  hear  you  talk." 

"Stranger  mistakes  have  been  made." 

"Not  to-day,  Ishida." 

"Yodogima  — •  " 


YODOGIMA  181 

"Stop!  You  forget  yourself;  the  taiko  still  lives: 
it  is  he  that  we  serve." 

The  festal  day  coming  on,  and  all  in  readiness,  Sen- 
no-rikyu  apparently  took  his  place  at  the  bowl.  No 
man  had  greater  fame  than  he.  There  had  been 
brewers  of  a  superior  flavor,  but  none  ever  reached 
the  excellence  of  Hideyoshi's  day  and  favor,  save  Sen- 
no-rikyu,  and  he  alone.  Famed  as  no  man  had  been 
at  cha-no-yu,  trusted  as  only  a  Hideyoshi  knew  how 
to  trust,  truant  or  designer,  patronized  by  an  age 
famed  above  all  others  in  the  wealth  and  luxury  and 
refinement  and  indulgence  of  a  nobility  unsurpassed 
in  the  annals  of  time,  this,  the  supposed  Sen-no-rikyu, 
but  in  fact  substitute  tea-server,  a  scion  of  all  that  had 
gone  before  and  a  deceiver  among  adepts,  may  have 
rightly  thought  himself,  too,  a  master,  undiscovered 
and  immune. 

Had  not  these  lords  and  ladies,  serving  and  served, 
the  kuge  and  the  bakufu,  come  or  remained  there  to 
partake  of  a  hospitality  made  possible  only  by  the  per 
fection  of  an  art,  a  crafthood  not  comparable  to  the 
deftness  of  his  hand,  with  the  cunning  of  his  brain, 
against  the  force  of  his  will?  What  mattered  if  he 
traduced  as  others  reviled? 

"The  hand  that  rules  is  not  the  one  who  feeds." 
argued  he,  to  himself,  as  the  guests  gathered  in  antici 
pation  of  all  that  Hideyoshi,  the  greatest  of  them,  had 
thought  to  develop  in  life  or  fought  to  leave  at  death. 

And  they  did  patronize  thus  in  gorgeous  splendor. 
Silks  soft  to  the  touch  and  pleasing  to  behold  covered 


1 82  YODOGIMA 

these  people,  whose  bodies  bore  no  taint  of  coarse, 
close-fitting  and  ill-shaped  garments.  The  great 
chamber  in  which  they  lounged  comfortably  or  de 
meaned  themselves  gracefully  bespoke  cycles  of  rigid 
aesthetics ;  the  crude  walls  and  hard-made  floors,  cum 
bersome  , furniture  and  meaningless  ornaments  of 
earlier  days  had  long  ago  succumbed  to  oblivion's 
kindlier  grace.  The  food  they  ate,  and  the  tea  they 
drank  —  only  a  god  could  brew  and  serve  it  as  they 
wot. 

Seated  there  as  placed,  no  sense  of  man  disturbed 
them  —  the  animal  had  been  subdued  in  times  gone 
by  —  thought,  too,  lost  all  sway,  and  only  the  soul 
called  down  from  ethereal  realms  a  glory  that  made 
earth  in  truth  a  heaven. 

A  careful  hand  filled  the  fated  cup.  Nature-clad 
messengers  bore  it  toward  the  taiko.  The  cha-no-yu 
had  begun. 

Two  simply-robed  humans,  no  different  except  in 
degree,  sat  at  the  head  of  this  vast  compulsorily 
punctilious  assemblage  —  the  one  at  the  other's  side. 
The  messengers  came  on,  and  no  sound  issued  or  lip 
as  much  as  moved.  Hideyoshi  raised  his  hand  to  take 
the  coveted  draught,  but  Yodogima,  instead,  seized  the 
cup  and,  raising  it  to  her  lips,  a  mighty  confusion 
broke  forth,  from  Ishida  to  her  husband,  over  that 
beaten  and  mystified  audience  —  Sen-no-rikyu  was  no 
where  there ;  Ishida  sat  in  his  place ! 

"What?  Would  you,  even  you,  deny  me  first  — 
Yodogima?"  tremblingly  asked  the  taiko. 


YODOGIMA  183 

"It  is  Hidetsugu's  fault,"  shouted  Ishida,  undis- 
guising  in  the  confusion  and  rushing  forward.  He 
has  poisoned  the  princess  —  please  strike  him  and 
pardon  her,"  continued  he,  snatching  the  cup  away 
and  dashing  its  contents  upon  the  floor. 

"No,"  replied  Yodogima,  composedly;  "Ishida 
speaks  falsely;  it  is  mine  to  answer." 

Outside  the  rattle  and  purpose  of  troops  made  itself 
quickly  apparent,  and  lyeyasu  sprang  up,  command 
ing: 

"My  sword."    Then,  "Forward,  guards !" 

The  taiko  only  railed  the  harder;  he  could  not  look 
or  feel  beyond  the  insult  sustained ;  Yodogima  had 
committed  an  act  no  penalty  other  than  direst  torture 
could  atone. 

"I  have  not  seen  Hidetsugu,  know  not  his  purpose, 
or  any  other  man's,  but  I  also  have  a  duty  to  per 
form  :  if  in  that  I  have  transgressed,  then  let  me  suffer 
therefor.  What  is  one  life  as  compared  with  so 
many?"  continued  Yodogima,  without  any  intimation 
as  to  what  she  herself,  Ishida,  and  the  Sen-no-rikyu 
alone  knew. 

"Hideyoshi  has  been  insulted  and  the  guilty  must 
suffer.  How  are  the  captains?  Where  lyeyasu?" 
demanded  the  taiko,  nervously. 

"Time  will  tell,"  suggested  Ishida.  "In  the  mean 
time  your  humble  servant  would  advise  that  Hideyori 
be  taken  in  charge  —  I  myself,  with  your  lordship's 
permission,  shall  attend  Yodogima." 

"Let  Oyea  stand  sponsor  for  Hideyori ;  Yodogima 


184  YODOGIMA 

has  proven  herself  untrustworthy  —  do  with  her  as 
you  like;  I  shall  have  enough  to  attend  Hidetsugu. 
Produce  the  child,"  commanded  the  taiko,  believing 
himself  abused  beyond  forgiveness. 

Yodogima  sank  down  bewildered.  Jokoin  had  been 
an  onlooker  and  believed  her  sister  in  the  right,  though 
she  knew  nothing  and  could  not  account  for  the  cir 
cumstance. 

"Never  mind,  sister;  Jokoin  shall  console  you," 
promised  she,  coming  forward  in  a  manner  strictly  her 
own,  however  menacingly  it  may  have  seemed. 

"And  you,  Hideyoshi,  are  just  as  mean  as  you  can 
be.  Now,  then,"  continued  Jokoin,  stamping  her  foot 
in  the  taiko's  presence. 

"Hei,  yeo !  Ishida,  we  shall  have  enough  of  it, 
before  done ;  I  know  this  little  elf,  of  old,"  threatened 
Hideyoshi,  vainly  trying  to  hide  a  deeper,  more  labori 
ous  concern. 

The  world,  however,  seemed  awhirl,  and  Yodogima 
had  surrendered,  but  Harunaga  watched  his  chance: 

"Do  not  despair,  Yodogima;  the  child  shall  not  be 
torn  from  its  mother,"  whispered  he,  and  his  words 
roused  within  her  a  new  life. 

Hidetsugu  came  in  —  he  had  flown  at  Ishida' s  accu 
sation — in  the  charge  of  lyeyasu,  who  had  surrounded 
and  taken  him  at  his  own  quarters,  while  in  the  act  of 
communicating  with  Mori,  a  friend  to  Ishida.  It  had 
been  the  kwambaku's  guards  marching,  contrary  to 
his  orders  or  knowledge,  but  well  within  the  plans  and 
connivance  of  Ishida,  that  caused  the  disturbance, 


YODOG1MA  185 

prompting  Jyeyasu  to  adopt  extreme  measures  —  cut 
ting  down  and  dispersing  them  without  inquiry  or 
cause. 

Ishida  laughed.  He  stood  at  Hideyoshi's  right. 
Yodogima  in  the  melee  had  disappeared,  in  company 
v/ith  Jokoin,  as  induced  by  Harunaga. 

"I  am  guilty  of  no  wrongdoing:  God  is  my  judge/' 
protested  Hidetsugu,  confronting  Hideyoshi. 

"Why,  then,  have  you  sought  to  impose  a  new  form 
of  oath?"  inquired  the  taiko,  calling  Mori  to  witness. 

Hidetsugu  stumbled  —  there  were  several  Christians 
present  and  he  himself  had  more  than  once  favored 
the  good  father  Grecchi,  though  none  now  offered  him 
as  much  as  a  consolation. 

Hideyoshi  marvelled  the  circumstance. 

It  now  came  lyeyasu's  turn,  and  he  answered  by 
absenting  himself;  it  occurring  that  there  might  be 
some  further  advantage  gotten  of  China;  Chin  Ikei 
had  not  yet  crowned  Hideyoshi. 

With .  reaching  her  own  apartment,  Yodogima's 
spirit  rekindled;  but  — 

"The  child!"  shrieked  she,  as  it  dawned  that  Hide- 
yori  was  nowhere  to  be  found. 

The  moments  seemed  ages  now,  and  a  thousand 
occasions  suggested  the  most  likely  place  to  search  — 
yet  back  of  it  all  there  stood  the  look  of  Ishida.  lie  had 
proffered  Hideyoshi  the  cup,  condemned  Hidetsugu, 
and  baffled  lyeyasu:  had  he  likewise  the  need  of  kid 
napping  her  child?  Were  he  in  truth  master  of  Hide- 


1 86  YODOGIMA 

yoshi?  Could  she  not  play  him  and  lyeyasu  yet,  one 
against  the  other,  to  some  advantage?" 

"Have  faith,  Yodogima;  we  still  have  Taketomo, 
my  own  dear  little  imp,  and  our  intended  ruse  may. 
yet  avail  —  in  the  opposite  direction.  Would  you  be 
lieve  it,  Harunaga  says  Take  looks  enough  like  Hide 
to  be  his  brother ;  and  I'm  sure  you  can  have  him,  and 
welcome,  for  I  should  just  love  to  find  another  like 
him." 

Yodogima  snatched  the  child  up,  and  vowed  that 
the  rearing  of  children  and  the  conserving  of  fortune 
were  two  occupations  utterly  incompatible  and  hope 
lessly  attempted  —  Hideyoshi  had,  without  further 
consultation  or  compunction,  sent  Hidetsugu,  his  three 
children,  their  mothers  and  some  thirty  other  ladies 
of  his  court  to  the  execution  grounds  at  Kyoto. 

"These  are  marvels,  not  virtues :  therein  lies  my 
strength,"  surmised  the  expectant  princess,  long  before 
"The  Mound  of  Beasts"  had  echoed  its  final  warning 
over  against  the  headsmen's  block  in  Sanjomachi. 


YODOGIMA  187 


CHAPTER  XXI 

A  CONSUMMATION  covertly  auguring  the  final 
purpose  of  Ishada;  who  had  so  ingratiated 
himself  into  the  grace  of  their  master  that  an  intrigue 
against  him  had  been  in  fact  resolved  into  a  better 
consequence.  With  Hidetsugu  out  of  the  way,  only 
Hideyori  stood  between  him  and  final  authority  —  so 
thought  Ishida:  another  occasion  might  prove  more 
certainly  Hideyoshi's  fate. 

The  doors  at  Fushima  stood  ajar,  and  Hideyoshi 
entered :  there  seemed  no  friend  now  other  than 
Ishida;  who,  also,  deemed  it  convenient  or  necessary 
to  dwell  elsewhere,  mostly ;  and  only  sycophants  and 
confusion  surrounded  the  taiko. 

"O  Hideyoshi,"  pleaded  he,  self-conscious  and  over 
done.  "Has  it  come  to  this?  Is  there  none  left  me?" 

Only  the  cold  dread  of  conjured  ingratitude  an 
swered.  Hell  itself  had  been  a  relief  in  those  drawn 
moments  of  flickering  consciousness,  and  the  taiko 
grappled  the  more  uncertainly  at  every  fleeting  fancy 
that  danced  on  in  one  endless  concourse,  faithless, 
hopeless,  and  uncharitable,  then  withering,  again  tor 
turing,  as  if  undecided  or  bent  upon  nothing  more. 

Tshida  now  held  fast  mostly  at  Ozaka :  the  child  ab 
sorbed  Yodogima's  attention,  and  Tyeyasu  found  it  no 
less  agreeable  to  sojourn  in  the  vicinity  of  Azuchi : 
here,  too,  the  child  engaged  partly  the  elder  wife, 
Ovea. 


1 88  YODOGIMA 

"Now  mind  you,"  enjoined  Ishida,  upon  Oyea,  at  a 
secret  conference,  outside  the  walls  at  Azuchi,  atop 
the  hill  in  Hiyeisan ;  "let  there  be  no  mishap ;  present 
the  child  only  upon  my  signal;  then  Oyea  shall  be 
first  in  favor  and  Ishida  her  lifelong  slave." 

"You  can  trust  me,  Ishida ;  do  your  part  as  well ; 
the  captains  shall  not  ignore  me,  as  Hideyoshi  once 
did,  though  their  recent  conduct  would  incline  one 
to  the  belief  that  they  were  capable  of  it." 

Jokoin  had  directly  realized  in  Harunaga  a  gallant 
superber  than  warmth,  even  hers,  could  have  desired : 
more  fervid,  perhaps,  than  Kyogoku,  her  husband,  ap 
proved  :  not  as  discreet  as  some  of  Hideyoshi's  fol 
lowers  would  have. 

In  consequence,  lyeyasu  had  found  it  possible  to 
urge  upon  Yodogima  measures  that  he  little  knew 
circumstances  had  made  it  possible  for  her  to  under 
stand  and  seize  upon  —  in  their  true  light.  She  had 
promised,  therefore  —  as  Oyea  had  sooner  agreed 
with  Ishida  —  to  be  at  hand  and  await,  likewise,  her 
would-be  deceiver's  proposals. 

The  two,  lyeyasu  and  Ishida,  the  one  planning  and 
the  other  carrying  out,  had  arranged  with  Chin  Ikei 
the  taiko's  coronation.  The  coveted  crown  should, 
with  concluding  pomp,  be  placed  securely  there.  Hide 
yoshi  was  to  be  made,  apparently,  emperor  of  all  the 
Orient.  lyeyasu  schemed  and  Ishida  advised :  Hide 
yoshi  succumbed,  to  their  cajolery,  an  easy  prey;  he 
had  subdued  Japan,  overrun  Korea,  and  outwitted 
China,  he  thought;  what  were  other  men's  conten- 


YODOGIMA  189 

tions  or  reliances  as  compared  with  the  feel  and  the 
fetch  of  glory? 

"Let  everybody  witness  Hideyoshi's  just  finale," 
commanded  he;  if  not  altogether  impotently,  then, 
perhaps,  a  bit  sarcastically. 

No  man  or  woman,  however,  willingly  missed  the 
occasion;  they  crowded  round  from  everywhere. 
Hideyoshi,  arrayed  in  robes  of  purple,  sat  high  upon 
pillows  of  curled  feathers  with  hand-embroidered 
cases.  His  own  three  hundred  serving  maids  lounged 
round  the  room  or  grouped  in  corners  awaiting  their 
master's  every  whim.  On  the  outside  bands  of  music 
horned  or  stringed  notes  soothing,  but  no  longer  stir 
ring.  Not  a  guard  or  soldier  marred  the  serenity  of 
Ilideyoshi's  belief,  and  only  the  covenant  bearers  dis 
turbed  the  silence  ensuing  a  taiko's  exultation. 

The  crown  rested,  impatiently,  upon  its  golden- 
lacquered  tray  in  front. 

An  ambassador  advanced. 

''Our  commission,"  declared  he,  bowing  low. 

"Read  it,"  commanded  Hideyoshi. 

The  interpreter  complied : 

"We  do  invest  you  King  of  Japan  —  " 

"What?  Crown  me  of  less  than  I  possess?  No!' 
>1  touted  he,  snatching  up  the  document,  casting  off 
that  robe,  and  throwing  down  the  crown. 

The  rage  of  Hideyoshi  only  increased  with  each 
attempted  explanation ;  the  real  perpetrators  stood 
mute  in  the  background,  the  one  bent  upon  Hideyori's 
destruction,  the  other  confident  of  a  mother's  triumph. 


190  YODOGIMA 

The  acknowledged  son  and,  now,  only  possible  suc 
cessor  destroyed,  Ishida  believed  it  easy  to  lay  his 
hand  securely  upon  the  reins  of  government :  trusting 
his  judgment,  the  taiko  could  be  wrought  into  no  more 
favorable  mood  than  the  one  at  present  so  forcibly 
expressed.  Jyeyasu,  on  the  other  hand,  faltered;  he 
adjudged  Yodogima  capable,  but  Hideyoshi  lighting 
mad  and  in  a  corner  had  only  too  often  proven  it  the 
death  knell  to  any  one,  hated  or  loved,  who  had  as 
yet  invoked  the  temerity  to  confront  him. 

The  plan  in  truth  of  his  own  making,  and  its  work 
ing  in  perfect  accord  to  this  the  culminating  point, 
convinced  him  the  more  that  someone  had  found  him 
out  and  now  fared  ready  to  reap  the  reward  of  his 
iniquity. 

lyeyasu  stood  paralyzed  —  yet  no  one  seemed  to 
suffer  a  moment's  loss  or  to  heed  at  all  any  sort  of 
plight  in  consequence  of  his  failure.  lyeyasu,  as  if 
dumb,  Ishida  exulted  the  more:  Oyea  came  forth  as 
understood,  and  bowing  down  laid  the  child  at  Hide- 
yoshi's  feet  —  the  taiko  gasped ;  speech  had  failed. 

Oyea,  also,  had  insulted  him ;  dared  to  flaunt  in  his 
face  what  he  knew  that  she  knew  was  not  his:  the 
taiko  was  angered. 

lyeyasu  withdrew,  as  quietly  as  he  had  remained, 
arid  no  one  would  have  been  the  wiser  had  not  Yodo 
gima —  hidden  away  so  disguised  that  even  he  had 
failed  her  —  observed  his  every  movement :  when  he 
had  gone,  then  Harunaga  shadowed  his  further  pro 
gress  and  — 


YODOGIMA  191 

Doffing  the  veil,  Yodogima  quickly,  yet  softly,  and 
considerately,  approached,  unwrapping  and  laying 
before  his  highness  another  child,  not  unlike  the  first 
in  face  and  form. 

Hideyoshi  looked  up,  a  changed  man ;  in  a  mother's 
prcbence  there  had  dawned  a  new  understanding. 

Ishida  rushed  forward,  and  Oyea  drew  back:  a 
common  wrangle  ensued,  and  no  one  appeared  to 
kuow  just  what  to  say  or  think  or  do.  Some  con 
tended  that  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  children  be 
longed  to  Oyea,  for  had  she  not  brought  it  there,  and 
proffered  hers  for  recognition  ?  But  which  one  ?  Why 
her  silence  ?  Others  claimed  that  only  a  mother  could 
know  her  child ;  whereat  the  taiko  frowned  and  Ishida 
smiled. 

"Which  one,  Ishida;  this  is  an  important  business, 
and  there  should  be  no  mistake?" 

Yodogima  had  claimed  them  both,  now,  in  the  ab 
sence  of  Oyea,  who  stood  back,  trembling  and  cogitat 
ing.  No  thought  disturbed  the  mother,  whose  only 
care  centered  in  the  child ;  to  deprive  her  of  hers,  she 
alone  must  make  the  selection :  Hideyoshi  had  never 
knowingly  committed  an  avoidable  wrong. 

Ishida  blushed;  the  truth  had  at  last  dawned  also 
upon  him,  and  turning  to  Yodogima  the  closely  cor 
nered  man  mumbled : 

"Which  is  he,  Yodogima?" 

"Let  the  guilty  determine,  as  I  have  done,"  replied 
she,  interested  and  secure. 


192  YODOGIMA 

"Both  of  them,  your  highness,"  stammered  Ishida, 
facing  Hicleyoshi. 

"Then  it  was,  as  well,  Ishida  who  poisoned,  not 
Yodogima,  but  the  intended  cup  ?  Away  with  you,  and 
let  one  who  has  no  need  to  choose  pronounce  judg 
ment,  for  her  son  is  my  heir,  and  henceforth  your 
kwambaku  —  I  command  it,"  vowed  Hideyoshi,  with 
no  other  consolation  or  assurance  than  a  mother's 
kindly  feeling,  to  foster  and  encourage  the  last  act  or 
wish  of  an  utterly  unrealized,  if  totally  expended, 
higher  ambition. 


YODOGTMA  193 


CHAPTER  XXII 

WITH  the  passing  of  Hidcyoshi,  Yodogima  faced 
a  maze  possibly  less  promising  than  had 
the  taiko  lived  longer  —  to  suffer  violence  or  sub 
version  at  the  hands  of  those  eager  and  prepared  to 
take  advantage  of  his  decline.  The  captains,  his  real 
adherents,  stood  as  it  were,  confused  and  unready; 
whereas  had  any  one  of  the  enemy's  schemes  to  do 
the  master  false  sooner  proven  successful  there  should 
no  doubt  have  been  in  consequence  a  mere  pronounced 
or  sudden  welding  and  rousing  of  them  to  the  cause 
he  left.  Yet,  in  the  face  of  uncertainty,  they  gathered 
to  a  man  in  support  of  the  infant  kwambaku :  also 
many  of  the  larger  daimyos  proffered  their  friend 
ship —  if  not  to  Hideyori,  then  to  his  mother  —  and 
Ozaka  rang  again  resonant  with  the  glamor  of 
authority. 

Oyea  had  been  ignored,  perhaps  understood ;  Hide- 
yoshi,  at  the  last  moment  taking  from  her  every  vistage 
of  authority  —  discerning  Yodogima's  true  disposi 
tion —  her  own  conduct  in  the  presence  of  all  and 
tinder  stress  of  a  last  appeal  alienated  others  upon 
whom  she  might  have  reasonably  depended. 

"I'll  yet  see  her  burned  at  the  stake,"  muttered 
Oyea,  departing  unheeded  and  alone  toward  the 
beggarly  inheritance  left  her  —  Azuchi,  and  that  as 


194  YODOG1MA 

well  with  no  other  immediate  chance  or  real  adviser 
save  Esyo,  the  wife  of  an  infant,  a  son  of  lyeyasu, 
Hidetada,  verily  Buddhist  born. 

A  mixed  situation,  therefore,  presented  itself  for 
her  delectation.  Yodogima  had  won  favors  on  every 
hand,  and  there  were  no  more  Christians  than 
Buddhists  at  Ozaka,  with  Shintoists  a  plenty  and  to 
spare  over  both.  The  government  had  been,  as  a 
last  resort,  intrusted  to  the  care  of  five  designated 
Regents  during  the  minority  of  Hideyori :  the  taiko 
believed  Yodogima  competent  to  see  that  justice  were 
done,  and  no  one  there  assumed  his  responsibility 
more  readily  or  inauspiciously  than  she. 

"I'll  make  my  son  ruler  in  fact,  not  alone  suffer 
him  to  succeed  in  name :  what  greater  end  can  a 
mother  achieve  than  succor  the  laurels  of  a  child  she 
bears?"  meditated  she,  as  the  luxuries  —  even  shorn 
of  the  comforts  —  of  a  respected,  though  unloved, 
husband's  bounty  showered  down  upon  and  around 
her. 

Kuroda  accepting  command,  not  a  captain  among 
them  —  excepting  Tlakiyama  —  wavered  in  his  loyalty 
or  bore  the  slightest  mistrust.  The  chests  were  filled 
to  bursting ;  no  such  bounty  as  that  left  in  Ozaka  had 
theretofore  accumulated,  and  new  recruits  proffered 
enlistment  from  every  source  save  one  —  Yedo  appar 
ently  foresaw  another  need  for  its  soldiery. 

The  regents  had  sworn  to  respect  the  will  of  their 
deceased  taiko,  who  had  enjoined  them  severally  and 
collectively  from  engaging  in  political  marriages  of 


YUDOGIMA  195 

whatsoever  kind  or  character  during  the  regency:  as 
lyeyasu  and  Ishida  both  stood  highest  in  council, 
Yodogima  very  naturally  had  good  occasion  to  rest 
easy  thereabout  on  her  own  account,  and  certainly 
nowise  other  respecting  Hideyori,  her  son  and  their 
kwambaku. 

"There  is  nothing  to  this  San  Filipe  affair;  it  was 
but  the  babbling  of  an  underling,  who,  finding  himself 
in  a  tight  place,  sought  by  braggadocio  to  escape 
further  custody  or  avoid  some  fancied  harm ;  please 
do  not  refer  to  it  again,"  begged  Yodogima,  of  Ishida, 
who  had  called  professedly  to  advise  her  of  certain 
rumors,  which  she  had  sooner  heard,  emanating  no 
one  seemed  to  know  just  how  or  where,  yet  sur 
mised  high  in  authority. 

"But  lyeyasu  is  bent  upon  expelling  the  Christians, 
and  of  course  needs  some  excuse.  No  doubt  your 
ladyship  is  right  in  her  estimation,  still  there  are  other 
reasons  why  the  good  and  faithful  should  listen  to 
any  proposal  aiming  at  perhaps  total  extinction,  and 
lyeyasu  is  clever." 

"Are  you  not  his  equal?  And,  I  am  sure,  there  can 
be  no  good  reason  for  drastic  measures  except  it  be 
political.  Are  a  few  priests,  a  dozen  or  so  daimyos, 
and  a  handful  of  followers  to  be  treated  a  menace? 
Nonsense!  None  knew  better  than  Ilideyoshi  the 
province  and  probabilities  of  religion,  and  I  mean  to 
be  as  tolerant,  if  not  so  capable.  Must  you  let  every 
project  that  comes  along,  invented  or  otherwise, 
swerve  you  in  your  bounden  duty?  Christianity  has 


196  YODOGIMA 

quite  as  much  right  or  reason  to  thrive  and  comfort 
whoso  or  whereat  as  any  other  religion :  when  creed 
has  proven  itself  fruitless,  it  shall  die  of  its  own 
accord :  as  soon  as  inimical  to  further  progress,  then 
chop  it  down;  man  is  neither  rank  nor  incapable." 

The  sun  shone  hot  out  of  a  clear  sky,  and'  the 
shade  fell  invitingly  from  an  aged  wistaria  that  hung 
in  profusion  overhead.  Threatening  clouds  gathered 
and  banked  huge  and  dark  in  the  west,  yet  the  voice 
of  storm  had  not  sounded  there,  in  Ozaka,  where  they 
two  sat,  overlooking  the  glassy  bay  to  the  southward, 
nor  had  it  quite  closed  with  Amaterasu  in  her  down 
ward  whirl  toward  the  passing  of  day.  They  pon 
dered,  and  a  sail  came  into  view  far  distant. 

There  appeared  nothing  as  yet  to  distinguished 
it  from  one  of  their  own,  and  the  imagination  played 
on.  Who  has  not  been  stirred  by  the  mysteries  of  an 
undiscernable  ship  at  sea? 

Once  upon  a  time  the  good  San  Filipe  had  likewise 
stolen  in  upon  them ;  a  storm  drove  her  against  shoals  ; 
as  was  custom  and  law  they  seized  her  and  confiscated 
the  cargo;  the  pilot  captured  and  questioned,  confi 
dently,  but  proudly,  spread  before  them  a  chart  show 
ing  the  vast  domain  of  Spain,  his  native  country,  and 
the  ship's  defender. 

"How  came  your  king  by  all  these  possessions?" 
Hideyoshi  had  asked  him. 

"Oh,  that  is  simple  enough,"  replied  the  unsophisti 
cated  sailor.  "We  first  send  out  our  religieux  to  con 
vert  the  people,  then  seize  upon  their  lands  with  an 


YODOGIMA  197 

army  supported  by  the  newly  made  Christians.     It's 
easily  done." 

"What?  My  states  filled  with  traitors,  and  the 
government  about  to  devolve  upon  a  child?  Impossi 
ble  !"  cried  the  taiko,  amid  his  adherents,  and  the 
echo  had  not  died  or  ceased  of  its  meaning. 

This  unguarded  statement  of  the  over-anxious,  yet 
innocent  Spaniard,  of  the  merchant  class  —  and  not 
so  particular  about  the  fate  of  priests  or  religion  — 
•that,  it  were,  had,  more  than  anything  else,  among 
other  things,  convinced  lyeyasu  of  Hideyoshi's  hav 
ing  acted  very  unwisely,  through  weakness  or  decline, 
with  yielding  to  the  importunities  or  blandishments  of 
a  woman,  Yodogima  or  Jokoin,  presumably  the 
former,  in  permitting  the  priests  to  return  to  Nag 
asaki  ;  that  it  now  became  him  as  a  leader,  first  of  all 
to  remove  them  bag  and  baggage  from  the  land. 
They  had  seized  upon  their  reinstatement  with  an 
avidity  that  augured  renewed  activity  and  their  opera 
tions  seemed  directed  chiefly  toward  Ozaka,  alternat 
ing  between  the  highest  and  the  lowest  in  or  out  of 
authority. 

A  prodigious  evil  this  appeared  to  be  —  the  gather 
ing  and  fraternizing  of  the  high  and  the  lowly,  the 
good  and  the  ill,  the  interested  and  the  disinterested, 
under  the  auspices  of  a  single  flag,  unfurled  and  waved 
solely  and  authoritatively  by  none  other  than  Ishida, 
whom  he  knew  and  could  not  misunderstand. 

"You  accuse  Yodogima  wrongly,"  said  he,  to  Oyea, 
as  they  too  sat  upon  a  veranda,  overlooking  not  the 


198  YODOGIMA 

sea,  but  that  selfsame  lake,  Biwa,  with  its  more  subtle, 
if  less  inspiring  outlook.  "She  is  surrounded  with 
evil  influences,  and  must  be  relieved.  Her  motives 
are  pure  —  over-intended  —  but  the  chicanery  of 
Ishida  is  more  than  a  woman  should  be  left  to  cope." 

"Then  it  is  Yodogima  that  concerns  our  lord : 
the  Christians  are  but  an  excuse?"  queried  Oyea, 
with  suppressed  emotion. 

lyeyasu  answered  discreetly  with  a  question;  still 
resist  as  best  he  could,  the  rising  color  in  his  face 
disclosed  to  Oyea  unmistakably  the  one  truth  which 
had  under-disturbed  her  every  thought  and  action 
since  the  day  she  had  consoled  with  Yodogima  in 
the  hope  that  lyeyasu  should  not  lose  to  Hideyoshi : 

"Why  do  you  ask,  Oyea?" 

"Is  it  not  enough  that  I  have  insured  you  Hideki, 
my  nephew's  support,  intrigued  with  Ishida  to  further 
your  cause,  surrendered  favors,  which  I  might  have 
had,  in  the  interests  of  one  whom  I  — " 

"Hold,  Oyea.  You  have  already  gone  too  far.  I 
am  loved,  and  I  love  —  " 

"But  Oyea  is  patient:  I  am  not  too  old  —  will 
serve  you  —  look,  lyeyasu  ;  my  face  comely  —  form 
preserved  —  " 

lyeyasu  turned  away,  toward  the  mountains  :  looked 
into  space,  limitless  and  conjectural.  Words  had  been 
worse  than  a  crime,  then.  Oyea  read  the  answer, 
searched  his  innermost  depths ;  she  had  failed  the  taiko ; 
should  lyeyasu  take  her  on  trust?  True  her  hair  was 
streaked,  but  underneath  that,  down  deep  in  her  heart, 


YODOGIMA  199 

there  held  and  beat  a  warmth  as  fervid,  an  ardor  as 
prone,  and  the  purpose  as  strong  as  of  the  days  when 
Hideyoshi  had  abused  a  confidence  no  less  com- 
pellingly  bestowed. 

Thunder  rumblings  in  the  distance,  lightning  flashes 
bolting  the  heavens,  ominous  clouds  overcasting  the 
earth  —  these  drove  home  the  dragon's  fearful  prom 
ise:  Oyea  only  drew  closer  round  her  the  simple 
kimono  she  so  gratefully  wore. 

Arising,  Ishida  approached,  and  respreading  his 
rug  sat  nearer.  Yodogima  gazed  the  more  intently  at 
the  tiny  speck  upon  the  angering  waters  in  front. 

"How  like  a  human,"  mused  she,  as  the  struggling 
bark  raised  and  lowered,  bantered  or  plowed  its  way 
toward  the  beacon  that  fond  anticipation  shall  never 
cease  of  hailing. 

"It  lacks  originality,"  ventured  he,  in  some  vainly 
attempted  response. 

"As  I  do,  you  may  think,"  retorted  the  princess, 
bowing  with  just  a  blush,  which  no  man  could  resist. 

"¥911  grant  me  undeserved  merit,  your  ladyship." 

"Why  not  'Yodogima',  though  not  guilty  of  as 
much  as  a  thought?" 

"May  I  dare?" 

"I  should  be  mean  to  deny  a  worthy  man," 
responded  she,  with  a  look  more  convincing  than 
words  could  have  been. 

"I'll  prove  it,  my  lady.  In  the  meantime  —  oh, 
Ishida;  what  an  ass  to  bandy  opportunity!"  muttered 
he,  bounding  off,  as  convinced  as  pleased. 


200  YODOGIMA 

With  a  long  drawn  sigh,  perhaps  of  satisfaction, 
Yodogima  continued  gazing  into  the  distance.  The 
approaching  vessel  had  ceased  to  be  a  center  of 
attraction,  though  still  tossing  and  laboring  with  the 
elements.  Subtler  affairs  now  engrossed  all  the  prin 
cess's  attention,  and  clapping  carelessly  for  a  servant 
Junkei  approached  unreservedly : 

"Call  Maeda,"  commanded  she,  dreamily. 

Junkei  bowing  low  departed  on  the  run ;  long  ser 
vice  with  Hideyoshi  had  wrought  of  him  a  veritable 
machine,  self-wound,  but  motionless  till  sprung.  Not 
far  to  go,  Maeda  soon  appeared  and  the  princess 
greeted  him  with  reverence ;  for  he  it  was  who  had 
accommodated  her  father  with  a  horse  and  service  on 
his  last  flight  from  the  enemy.  Yodogima  loved  the 
old  veteran,  who  by  dint  of  prudence  and  much  quiver 
ing  had  preserved  his  life  and  retained  a  domain 
through  all  those  troublesome  years  of  Hideyoshi's 
enforced  subduction. 

None  save  lyeyasu  —  of  those  near  the  capital, 
and  only  two  others,  widely  separated,  at  the,  two 
extremes  of  the  empire  —  could  boast  or  master  a 
larger  income  or  force :  not  a  daimyo  of  them  all  bore 
the  respect  generally  that  this  giant  of  a  bygone  day 
enjoyed  among  them.  Hence  Hideyoshi,  himself, 
before  death,  had  singled  him  out  as  the  best  fitted  or 
suited  to  exercise  public  guardianship  over  the  infant 
Kwambaku,  Hideyori,  during  his  minority,  a  thank 
less  undertaking  at  best,  refused  by  lyeyasu  —  per 
haps  at  the  request  of  Yodogima,  for  she  trusted  in 


YODOGIMA  201 

Alaeda's    honesty:    believed    herself    competent    and 
rightly  entitled,  if  not  best  intended,  to  direct. 

Maeda,  therefore,  was  legal  guardian,  and  no  two 
held  forth  in  stricter  confidence  than  he  and  Yodo- 
gima. 

"Sit  down,  Maeda,"  commanded  she  —  he,  too, 
bore  toward  her  the  respect  due  a  superior. 

"1  beg  to  be  at  your  service,  my  lady,"  responded 
he,  seating  himself  near  at  hand. 

"You  are  a  friend  to  iyeyasu,  Maeda?" 

"Yes,  my  lady,"  unconcernedly. 

"You  are  a  friend  to  ishida?" 

"Yes,  my  lady,"  with  growing  interest. 

••Then  1  would  warn  you:  beware  of  Ishida." 

The  old  man  trembled  perceptibly;  to  question  the 
integrity  of  a  friend  was  more  than  he  could  do,  and 
to  listen  to  a  proposal  like-  that  had  fairly  unnerved 
him — yet  he  knew  this  daughter  of  an  older  cham 
pion,  had  studied  her  every  mood  from  childhood  up : 
no  uncertain  thing  could  prompt  her  to  make  such 
a  declaration. 

"I  thank  you,  Yndngima —  pardon  the  allusion;  1 
was  thinking  of  your  father."  replied  he,  presently  the 
moments  passed. 

"Thank  you.  my  lord."  responded  she,  no  less 
spontaneously. 

A  greater  respect  could  not  have  been  paid  him, 
or  an  honor  more  highly  appreciated;  the  old  diplo 
mat  thenceforth  knew  no  higher  duty,  cherished  not 
a  thought  other  than  to  uphold  the  child  whose  mother 


202  YODOGIMA 

he  believed  divinely  cast,  no  matter  what  his  opinion 
or  other  men's  contentions  might  be  —  about  a  father. 
Maeda  had  pledged  himself  irredeemably,  and 
Yodogima  believed  the  fortress  impregnable  against 
the  arms  alike  their  cunning  of  any  man  or  combina 
tion  that  might  dare  or  choose  to  go  against  it. 
Night  came  on,  and  they  parted ;  the  ship  she  had 
fancied  vanished,  with  the  light  that  lowered  real. 


YODOG1MA  203 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

ISHIDA  and  Masuda  lingered  longer  than  usual 
at  the  cups,  on  a  dark  night  soon  after,  while 
their  conversation,  heated  and  close,  kept  rhythm  to 
the  customary  "whack,  whack,"  their  metal  pipes 
ringing  and  the  hours  lessening. 

"Then  it  is  true  that  Jokoin  really  bore  a  son,  this 
Hachisuka,  to  whom  Iveyasu  has  just  now  married  his 
granddaughter,  Ogasa,"  queried  Masuda.  "I  wonder 
how  long  it  will  be  till  he,  himself,  has  taken  Yodo- 
gima  for  wife?  He  seems  to  have  ignored  the  taiko's 
enjoinder,  altogether:  perhaps  he  may  have  con 
venient  some  other  granddaughter  or  such  like  for 
Hideyori:  what  chance  shall  there  be  for  the  rest  of 
us  then  ?  I  really  believe  he  aims  at  succeeding  Hide- 
yoshi  in  authority." 

Ishida  shifted  uneasy. 

"They  say  he  was,  once,  in  love  with  the  princess." 

"Love!  He's  too  cold  for  that:  I  should  sooner 
think  him  in  quest  of  the  treasure  stored  away  there, 
at  Ozaka,  in  Maeda's  keep." 

"Do  you  know,"  continued  Ishida,  without  further 
reference  to  Yodogima,  "that  two  of  them,  Iveyasu 
and  Maeda,  united,  are  competent  and  capable  of 
doing  about  as  they  like  ?  They  must  be  antagonized, 
and  you  •  and  I  shall  do  it ;  ally  yourself  with  the 
former,  and  I  will  attend  the  latter." 


204  YODOGIMA 

"But  Yodogima  is  friendly  to  both  of  them,  in 
some  measure." 

"So  much  the  better,  for  Oyea  is  as  hot  against 
her,  and  if  we  fail  at  the  one,  why,  then  we  have  a 
surer  remedy." 

Thus  they  separated,  and  Ishida  calling  at  the 
castle  convinced  Maeda  that  it  were  high  time  for 
lyeyasu  to  pay  his  respects  to  Hideyori,  their  rising 
superior.  Maeda,  the  guardian,  without  any  sus 
picion  as  to  motive  or  consultation  with  Yodogima, 
issued  the  invitation,  and  Masuda  as  soon  advised 
lyeyasu  that  Maeda  plotted  to  kill  him. 

"Maeda  harm  me?  There  must  be  some  mistake," 
replied  lyeyasu,  a  bit  puzzled,  but  not  the  least 
shaken. 

"There  can  be  none,  however,  about  this  letter," 
suggested  Masuda,  producing  one,  in  the  hand  of  its 
supposed  writer.  "Perhaps  my  lord  is  familiar  with 
the  handwriting.  It  was  intercepted  between  Yodo 
gima,  the  mother,  and  his  grace,  the  good  guardian  — 
can  your  lordship  unravel  the  meaning,  to  some  bet 
ter  purpose  ?" 

lyeyasu  turned  pale.  Though  understanding  well 
enough  its  purport,  somehow  the  chirography  did  not 
exactly  satisfy  him,  and  wheeling  round  toward  Esyo 
—  who  of  late  had  made  it  her  business  to  sojourn 
mostly  between  Fushima,  lyeyasu's  recently  adopted 
domicile,  and  Azuchi,  Oyea's  deserted  or  despised 
hearth  —  lyeyasu  —  grandfather  to  Kita,  Esyo's  first 
born,  a  daughter  —  significantly  asked: 


YODOGIMA  205 

"Who  wrote  it,  Esyo?" 

Esyo  stammered;  for  once  she  had  been  taken 
unawares: 

"Perhaps  Jokoin  might  know.  Shall  I  call  her ;  she 
is  close  by,  engaged  just  now  with  Takiyama;  you 
knuw  he  is  quite  friendly  — 

"Xo;  I  would  rather  not  put  her  to  the  test,  as 
1  did  you,  my  daughter.  But  where  is  her  husband, 
Kyogoku?" 

"Oh,  he's  at  Ozaka;  preferred  Kitagira  and  the 
shrine  to  his  wife  and  a  church ;  though  Maeda, 
really,  distrusts  them  both ;  poor,  lonely  soul ;  he's 
about  the  only  Christian  left  there ;  a  pleasing  enough 
circumstance  to  Yodogima,  I  presume,  now  that  she's 
a  favorite  among  the  captains  and  the  bearer  of  a  — 

"Cannot  you  control  your  tongue  ':  Now  Kita,  your 
own  daughter,  shall  marry  Hideyori,  as  I  command. 
Go  hence." 

"Where  to,  Azuchi?" 

"If  you  like ;  I  can  do  quite  well  without  either  of 
you." 

"Perhaps." 

lyeyasu  did  not  make  the  visit,  however,  and  Yodo 
gima,  advised  of  the  circumstance,  consulted  Hoso- 
kawa,  Maeda's  most  ardent  friend ;  whose  wife,  Grace 
of  Tango,  a  staunch  Christian,  not  only  bore  intimate 
terms  with  Jokoin,  keeping  strict  account  of  her 
entangling  alliances,  but  actively  inspired  some 
acquaintance  with  all  things  pertaining  accidentally  or 
discreetly  to  the  new  religion. 


206  YODOGIMA 

"Let  Ishida  separate  Maeda  and  lyeyasu,  if  he  will, 
but  see  to  it  no  harm  is  done  either  one;  we  cannot 
so  much  control  men's  acts  as  adapt  ourselves  inad 
vertently  to  results,"  urged  Yodogima,  no  less  con 
cerned  about  lyeyasu's  than  Ishida's  motive. 

"How  do  you  know  that  it  is  Ishida,  who  seeks  their 
disalliance?"  queried  Hosokawa,  unadvised,  yet  sus 
picious. 

"Intuitively,  I  presume,"  replied  she,  unconcernedly, 
but  not  without  arousing  deeper  thought  on  his  part. 

"What  would  your  ladyship  have  me  do,  then,  if 
there  is  danger  ahead  for  either  or  both  of  them ;  they 
must  be  gotten  together  in  some  way?"  replied  he, 
hopelessly  at  sea. 

Yodogima  shrugged  her  shoulders ;  a  first  glimpse 
at  intrigue  seemed  ready  to  burst  into  fruitage  more 
bitter  than  she  could  unmovedly  contemplate. 

"Whatever  else  you  may  advise,  do  not  countenance^ 
for  a  moment,  Maeda's  leaving  the  castle.  Let  lyeyasu 
come  here;  it  is  proper  that  he  should,  and  if  he 
refuse,  then  beware :  there  are  two  reasons  why  Hide- 
yori's  guardian  should  not  expose  himself." 

Hosokawa  minded  the  advice,  but  Maeda  did  not ; 
going  directly  to  visit  his  friend  lyeyasu,  who  had 
sooner  left  Azuchi,  to  resume  uninterruptedly  his 
residence  at  Fushima. 

Yodogima  remained  up  all  that  night,  devising 
how  best  to  keep  her  skirts  clear  of  an  impending 
crisis.  She  had  discovered  Ishida,  and  penetrated 
lyeyasu.  True  she  had  favored  the  Christians,  but  not 


YODOGIMA  207 

out  of  sympathy  for  them  or  their  creed ;  she  believed 
them  no  less  abused  than  abusive,  and  among  the 
Mower  of  the  nobility  entitled  to  such  protection  and 
encouragement  as  her  influence  and  position  might 
render  —  the  possibilities  of  their  united  support  had 
not  as  yet  dawned,  neither  the  occasion  ;  lyeyasu  alone 
had  discerned  and  forestalled,  planning  the  division  of 
a  house  unto  itself. 

Through  the  marriage  of  his  granddaughter  to  the 
son  of  Jokoin  —  innocent  as  she  was  —  he  had  enlisted 
into  his  services  the  sympathy  or  support  of  the 
younger  and  most  active  in  the  new  school;  Taki- 
yama,  Gamo,  and  others  of  the  hot  bloods  had  fol 
lowed  in  the  trail  of  their  bewitching  Jokoin,  while 
Kuroda,  still  piqued  and  guerilla-like,  continued  with 
the  mending  of  his  own  fortunes  far  away  at  Kyushu* 

Yet,  in  the  face  of  these  discouragements,  Jokoin 
came  in  upon  the  deeper  thinking  Yodoginia. 

"Take  my  advice,  sister,"  said  she,  confidingly,  "and 
submit  to  lyeyasu's  rule.  He  is  able  and  willing 
and  Hideyori  is  only  a  child,  and  don't  you  whisper  it, 
I  believe  he  is  madly  in  lovr  with  you  still.  Come,  let's 
have  peace;  and  after  all  I  don't  believe  Ishida  is  a 
whit  better  Christian  than  lyeyasu ;  there  isn't  one  of 
them,  not  a  daimyo,  converted  or  designing  or  other 
wise,  who  would  let  go  a  single  wife  for  the  whole 
Christian  paraphernalia  —  and  I'm  not  so  sure  but 
they  are  right,  after  all.  Let  Hideyori  acknowledge 
lyeyasu  —  Oyea  advises  it,  and  as  sure  as  fate  she  is 
wise." 


208  YODOGIMA 

Without  attempting  any  answer  to  her  harangue, 
Yodogima  bade  the  sister  welcome,  inquiring  dis 
creetly  as  to  the  good  fortune  and  better  intentions  of 
Oyea. 

"Oh,  she  is  gaining  somewhat  in  favor- since  lyeyasu 
is  known  to  have  taken  her  up;  but,  I  am  afraid 
Esyo  shall  spoil  it  all ;  nobody  likes  her ;  and,  do  you 
know,  she  displayed  the  affrontery  to  drive  her  father- 
in-law,  the  great  lyeyasu,  from  Azuchi — I  left  her 
there,  in  the  company  of  Ishida." 

Just  then  a  servant  came  in,  informing  Yodogima 
that  Maeda  lay  dying  at  his  quarters,  elsewhere  within 
the  castle  enclosure. 


YODOGIMA  209 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

MOMENTARILY,  at  the  mention  of  lyeyasu's 
love,  Yodogima  brightened  ;  something  moved 
her  to  a  kindlier  remembrance  of  the  man  who  had  so 
often  defeated  his  own  intended  purpose,  seemingly 
with  the  sheerest  kind  of  stupid  neglect.  That  he 
had  once  loved  her  there  could  be  no  doubt,  but  the 
possibility  of  his  having  recncouraged  that  love  now 
grew  the  remoter,  in  her  estimation,  with  each  at 
tempted  move  on  his  part  to  set  aside,  as  presumable, 
an  established,  developing  progression. 

A  regime,  however,  that  invited,  till  fixed  and  con 
solidated,  every  upstart  in  the  empire  to  try  for 
individual  ascendency  —  a  privilege  the  taiko  would 
not  have  denied  any ;  he  loved  too  well  the  pleasure 
of  crushing  them.  Yodogima  would  have  so  mar 
shaled  her  forces  that  none  could  disturb,  but  all 
might  rise  in  one  united,  orderly  and  elastic  trend 
toward  a  goal  commonly  beckoning  back  for  the  best 
that  God  had  given  man.  She  had  tested  this  lyeyasu 
from  a  standpoint  none  other  had  been  privileged,  hail 
found  out  long  ago  Oyea's  temper,  if  not  her  pur 
pose,  and  could  not  now,  in  face  of  the  circum 
stances,  bring  herself  to  believe  that  she.  a  mother; 
Hideyori,  her  kind:  the  nation,  at  large;  or  an  ideal, 
that  she  had  conceived,  could  endure  the  vagaries  of 


210  YODOGIMA 

a  man  so  attuned  and  advised  as  lyeyasu  had  proven 
himself,  whatever  the  sentiment. 

"Ishida,"  she  surmised,  "will  do  only  his  part ; 
every  man  is  born  unto  some  righteous  purpose." 

The  messenger  awaited  her  pleasure. 

"Comfort  Maeda  with  the  intelligence  that  I  shall 
come  forthwith,"  replied  the  princess. 

Ishida  met  her  at  the  door : 

"You  are  too  late,  Yodogima !  Maeda  is  dead." 

lyeyasu  stood  by,  and  with  Ishida's  addressing  the 
princess  so  familiarly  a  flush  at  first  reddened  his 
face,  then  a  cold  pallor  revealed  the  blow  finding 
lodgement  in  his  heart. 

Nor  had  Ishida's  words  roused  in  her  lesser  feel 
ings  ;  more  certainly  of  contempt.  She  had,  perhaps, 
at  a  fatal  moment,  unduly  sacrificed  her  bearing  to 
ward  him,  but  she  had  judged  him  not  manly,  yet  wiser 
than  to  endanger  himself  by  resolving  a  license 
granted,  into  an  indiscretion,  possibly  fatal  to  both 
alike. 

"You  apparently  take  an  undue  advantage,  Ishida ; 
please  explain  yourself,"  commanded  the  princess. 

Ishida  only  laughed,  whereat  Yodogima  turned 
crimson. 

"Perhaps  deeds  better  than  words  might  compose 
your  ladyship.  Suppose  I  name  Harunaga ;  his 
guardianship,  over  this  boy  Hideyori,  should  prove 
to  be  no  less  willingly  bestowed  than  agreeably 
acceptable.  What  say  you,  lyeyasu ;  I  understand 
that  your  word,  whatever  the  opinion,  is  of  great 


YODOGIMA  2ii 

weight,  in  sonic  quarters,  about  matters  domestic,  if 
not  marriages  politic.  Come,  craven;  out  with  it, 
before  I  shall  have  proven  Harunaga  innocent  by 
chopping  your  head  off." 

"Cur,"  snapped  lyeyasu,  whipping  out  his  sword ; 
"Kitagira  shall  be  guardian  of  Hideyori ;  I  name 
him." 

"You  are  a  coward,  and  an  impossibility,"  shouted 
Ishida,  drawing  to  fight. 

Yodogima  forcibly  threw  herself  between  them : 
why,  she  did  not  know ;  instinctively  she  believed 
Ishida,  the  civilian,  no  match  for  lyeyasu,  a  veteran  of 
many  battles.  Neither  one  of  them  would  harm  her, 
and  their  eyes  gleamed  the  deadlier  in  consequence. 
Konishi  alone  separated  them,  though  by  so  doing,  he, 
too,  gained  an  enmity  that  finally  drove  him  irrevoca 
bly  into  the  camp  of  Ishida. 

The  captains  had  seen  Yodogima,  the  favorite  of 
Hideyoshi  and  the  mother  of  Hideyori,  disgraced,  and 
they  as  willingly  held  Ishida  at  fault ;  his  apparently 
strange  and  rapid  growth  in  favor,  if  not  as  suitor,  at 
Ozaka  had  roused  their  jealousies;  the  mysterious 
death  of  Maeda,  which  none  could  attribute  more  to 
Ishida  than  to  lyeyasu,  both  alike-  detractors  as  well 
as  usurpers,  now,  in  consequncce  of  Yodogima's 
apparent  shielding  —  knowing,  as  they  believed  she 
must  know,  the  one's  utter  inequality  —  suddenly  at 
tached  itself  to  the  former;  Ishida  had  become 
intolerable,  for  withal  lyeyasu's  faults,  a  samurai  as 
against  a  civilian  should  be  condoned  unto  treachery 


212  YODOGIMA 

—  they  swore,  then,  and  there,  to  take  the  life  of 
Ishida. 

And  Yodogima  vowed,  to  herself,  that  they  should 
not ;  she  had  a  reason :  lyeyasu  may  or  may  not  have 
had,  for  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  he  .considered  it 
expedient  or  wise  to  hurry  from  the  scene,  hiding 
himself  away  in  a  yakata  (small  house)  near  the  palace 
at  Fushima. 

There  Ishida  found  him,  as  with  hearing  about  the 
captains'  determination  to  put  an  end  to  him,  the 
lovesick  valet  of  former  years  had  thrown  himself 
upon  the  mercies  of  none  other  than  a  master's  widow. 

"Accept  me,  Yodogima,"  begged  he;  "I  am  your 
true  lover,  and  will  die  for  you." 

"You  mean,  'but  for  me/  "  suggested  she,  coldly. 
Now  I  do  not  wish  you  death,  nor  shall  I  marry  you : 
1  could  not,  as  yet  —  I  might  say,  for  laughing ;  but,  if 
you  do  as  I  direct,  I  will  see  you  safely  from  here. 
Use  this  disguise,  and  reaching  Fushima  forthwith 
subject  yourself  to  the  good  will  of  lyeyasu;  he  may 
protect  you,  but  if  you  cannot  hold  your  tongue  I 
should  advise  rather  that  you  trust  the  captains ; 
they  are  less  apt  to  procrastinate." 

Donning  thus  the  guise  of  a  bonze  —  he  had,  at  all 
events,  professed  Christianity  —  Ishida  made  off  to 
ward  Fushima  fully  determined  to  win  the  hand  of 
Yodogima,  if  not  by  valor,  then  with  catering,  for 
withal  his  meanness  he  believed  himself  worth  her 
while. 

Meeting  lyeyasu  at  Bungo  bashi  (bridge),  Ishida 


YODOGIMA  213 

kneeled  and  craved  his  pardon.  lyeyasu  granted  it  ; 
he  had  sooner  heard  from  Yodogima,  at  the  hand 
of  a  messenger,  one  of  the  captains,  Honda  Masanobu, 
advising  him  :  upon  recalling  a  previous  conversation  : 

"I,  too,  have  been  considering  whether  it  were  best 
to  let  the  captains  make  way  with  Ishida  or  to  save 
him  for  further  use." 

"Whose  use,"  inquired  Masanobu ;  "your  own, 
or  —  " 

"As  you  think,  friend  Masanobu,1'  replied  lyeyasu, 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 

Thence  Masanobu  became  a  friend  to  lyeyasu, 
and  of  the  seven  captains  left  by  Hideyoshi,  none  was, 
however  alienated,  actively  engaged  directly  with 
advancing  the  interests  of  Hideyori.  Those  who  had 
sworn  to  take  the  life  of  Ishida  now  deemed  it  obliga 
tory  to  cry  umbrage  at  lyeyasu's  saving  him :  between 
the  two  of  them,  Ishida  and  lyeyasu,  they  all,  but 
Kuroda  (who  continued  to  remain  absent)  alike  stood 
ready  and  anxious  to  enter  the  ranks  of  the  one  or 
the  other  madly  to  avenge  a  threatening  wrong,  on 
either  side  attributable  to  a  common  cause,  an  assum- 
ably  attempted  infringement  upon  the  rights  and 
duties  of  the  house  Hideyoshi  had  builded. 

Each  of  them,  Ishida  and  lyeyasu  —  the  only  ones 
whose  ambitions  seemingly  conflicted  with  hers  — 
had  sunk  himself  so  deeply  into  the  mire  that  no 
rescue  save  a  conflict  could  eradicate  the  danger  of  an 
after  consequence,  and  Yodogima  quietly  seated  her 
self,  there,  in  Ozaka.  apparently  independent  and 


214  YODOGIMA 

alone,  upon  a  throne,  perhaps  builded  by  herself  and 
unthought  of  by  the  taiko  or  those  sworn  to  do  him 
justice,  ready  to  give  and  to  take,  frown  or  smile,  as 
occasion  required  and  fortune  betokened:  and  she 
did  as  much,  and  more. 

Tyeyasu,  refusing  to  listen  to  the  captains,  forth 
with  sent  Ishida  to  his  keep  at  Sawayama.  And  that 
none  might  do  him  harm  on  the  way,  or  learn  too 
much  about  his  liberties  and  movements  after  there, 
he  afforded  his  own  son,  Hideyasu,  and  a  goodly 
force,  as  well,  for  escort. 

Thus  licensed,  Ishida  lost  no  time  in  perfecting  his 
plans  —  as  anticipated  by  lyeyasu,  perchance  encour 
aged  by  another  still  higher  in  authority.  Hideyasu 
and  his  troops,  at  all  events,  had  as  expeditiously 
returned  to  Fushima,  and  no  restraint  of  whatsoever 
kind  hindered  or  enlightened  the  supposed  past- 
master  now  snugly  domiciled  at  Sawayama. 

Konishi,  and  others,  including  a  portion  of  the 
captains,  stood  behind  Ishida;  Takiyama,  as  many 
daimyos,  and  the  remaining  captains,  supported 
lyeyasu :  thus  Christianity  had  been  split,  and  found 
itself  uncharitably  enrolled,  each  side  preparing  to 
battle  ostensibly  for  the  same  cause,  an  avowed  safe 
guarding  of  Hideyori's  interests,  but  in  reality  the 
preservation  of  an  established  religion,  Buddhist  or 
Shintoist,  whichever  it  were. 

No  one,  however,  so  much  as  mentioned  religion 
in  connection  with  the  impending  crisis;  none  pro 
fessed  to  seek  political  mastery;  social  conditions 


YODOGIMA  215 

were  apparently  satisfactory,  but  the  war  fever  spread 
and  the  cry  of  everybody  alike  at  once  became,  "Pre 
serve  the  taiko's  government." 

"The  princess  verily  laughed,  and  lycyasu,  Buddhist 
incarnate,  withdrew  from  the  council  and  began  con 
centrating  his  forces  at  Yedo.  Ishida,  professing 
Christianity,  mobilized  around  Sawayama,  and  their 
respective  forces  stood  nearly  equal.  Thence  Yodo- 
gima,  observant  of  every  move,  uninfluenced  by  their 
claims  or  their  charges,  gathering  and  neutralizing 
every  malcontent,  secure  in  her  possessions  and  peace 
ably  inclined,  quietly  looked  on  and  the  nation 
applauded. 

"You  are  a  dear,  sweet  child,  Hideyori,  and  your 
mother  just  worships  you,  lives  only  for  you  and 
yours,"  whispered  she,  half  to  herself  and  half  to  the 
snuggling,  confiding  boy;  who  had  grown,  already, 
into  a  fine,  dapper  little  chap,  with  the  form  and  dash 
of  a  Taira. 

The  mother,  like  others,  no  doubt  admired  her 
son,  but  over  and  above  this  motherly  instinct  there 
developed  and  ripened  a  determination  to  live  in 
him,  to  attain  by  and  through  him  an  ideality  in  keep 
ing  with  his  lineage  and  their  progression.  Through 
her  he  had  inherited  the  manlier  traits :  sobriety  and 
the  colder  forces  of  an  harmonious  fellowship  should 
come  of  a  careful  tutoring,  such  as  none  else  than 
Harunaga  could  give;  he,  installed,  as  personal  in 
structor,  immediately  Yodogima  had  compromised 
upon  Kitagira's  appointment  for  guardian,  would 


216  YODOGIMA 

attend  the  pleasure  only  of  a  mother  rightly  judged, 
measure  truly  a  child's  really  inborn  inheritance. 

"How  good  it  is  to  feel  that  one's  energies  are  not 
directed  aimlessly,"  cogitated  she,  drawing  the  child 
close  in  her  arms.  "I  can  now  understand  what  it 
is  to  love  intelligently.  Yes,  with  precision.  The 
primal  instincts  are  only  foundation  stones  upon  which 
to  rear  a  superstructure  in  keeping  with  our  destiny. 
A  mother's  love  shorn  of  the  father's  ambition  resolves 
an  anomaly.  I  must  have  verity." 

"Will  you  be  to-  him  as  a  father  should  be  to  a 
child?  Can  you  lay  aside  personality,  submerge  self 
for  the  larger  good,  and  make  of  this  Hideyori  what 
birth  and  occasion  demand?"  inquired  the  princess, 
of  Harunaga,  who  at  her  invitation  sat  there,  sullenly 
contemplating  a  situation  that  only  he  and  she  could 
at  all  fathom  in  its  deeper  strata. 

"Discipline  has  been  my  due,  and  confidence  is 
your  better  prospect;  if  you  believe  me  more  than 
human,  then,  and  then  only,  can  you  trust  me  to  do 
what  the  world  refuses ;  encourage  others,  at  my  own 
expense,"  replied  he,  his  eyes  softening,  with  a  love 
broader  than  Ishida's,  more  comprehensive  than 
Hideyoshi's  ever  had  been. 

The  child  gambolled  upon  the  greensward.  Embat- 
tlements  here  and  there  echoed  the  voice  of  security. 
All  around  were  things  made  and  transient,  as  at  the 
inn  where  Hideyoshi  had  once  shown  himself  to  be  a 
man.  The  significance  of  authority  now  forged  and 
welded  chords  of  deeper  interest  than  the  halo  of 


217 

i 

righteousness  had  deigned  to  conjure  absolute,  and 
Yodogima  looked  afar  over  all  these  things  in  the 
full  consciousness  of  having  found  a  man  whom 
she  could  trust.  And  she  did  trust  him. 

This  man,  invited  and  encouraged,  had  refused  ab 
solutely  to  take  advantage,  and  looking  back  over  the* 
past  how  could  she  class  him  no  higher  than  human? 
Manhood  were  more;  it  savored  of  paradise,  and 
Yodogima  paused  there,  if  but  to  refresh  the  soul  and 
inspire  its  flight  toward  a  higher  fate. 

"Xo,  Harunaga,"  promised  she,  after  a  moment's 
reflection,  "I  do  not  trust  anybody  mortal,  nor  have 
I  confidence  in  any  thing  unrealized ;  but  I  under 
stand  you ;  and  in  knowledge,  primarily,  there  lies  a 
salvation.  Be  sponsor,  that  my  child  is  your  concern." 

Outside  the  ramparts,  a  savager  duel  engrossed 
the  activities  of  principals,  seconds,  and  spectators 
alike.  The  fife  and  drum  fired  men  into  heartier 
doings,  but  none  measured  so  accurately  as  did  Yodo 
gima  the  final  consequence: 'were  she  to  fall  short  in 
her  estimate? 

These  were  momentous  deeds,  of  far-reaching 
effect;  all  around  them  were  civilizations  and  condi 
tions  bordering  upon  the  speculative,  but  none  stood 
seemingly  as  balanced  as  their  own ;  China  had  ages 
ago  waded  through  its  materialism,  and  again  lapped 
into  spiritual  inanimation ;  India  had  impoverished 
itself  with  elaborate  dogmas ;  Judea  had  lost  its 
nationality  as  a  consequence  of  their  religion ;  Greece 
and  its  philosophy  had  fallen  before  the  onslaught 


218  YODOGIMA 

of  a  doctored  creed;  Rome  had  exhausted  herself  in 
spreading  that  faith;  the  barbarious  hosts  of  the 
Northland,  had,  as  yet,  scarcely  doffed  the  breach  clot, 
and  only  Spain,  of  these  embryo  nations,  with  her 
cruelties,  impossible  barbarities,  loomed  large  upon 
the  Western  horizon. 

All  these  things  threshed  out,  searched  for  and 
understood,  before  the  days  of  Yodogima,  she  believed 
that  even  they  in  their  advanced  position  might  profit 
by  maintaining  some  sort  of  intercourse  with  the 
outside  world;  in  fact,  could  not  close  their  doors 
to  other  men,  however  low  in  the  scale  of  humanism, 
so  long  as  the  God  ideal  held  fast  in  the  human  heart. 

"You  are  a  Buddhist,  Harunaga?"  inquired  the 
princess,  after  a  pause. 

"Yes,  your  ladyship." 

"And  knowledge  is  the  foundation  of  that  belief?" 

"Yes,  most  honorable  princess." 

"Then,  why  does  lyeyasu  refuse  enlightment ; 
Christianity,  like  all  religions,  is  but  a  means  to  that 
end?" 

"Because  it  is  vicious,  and  the  prince  would  be 
human,"  replied  he,  argumentatively. 

Yodogima  hesitated  ;  she  were  treacling  upon  sacred 
grounds  to  answer,  and  answer  she  would.  The 
breath  of  a  thousand,  perhaps  ten  thousands,  or  more, 
years  floated  in  from  a  realized  haven  to  fan  the 
flame  of  remembrance.  This  beauty  land  of  theirs 
she  knew,  stretching  far  and  away,  to  the  very  limits 
of  an  empire  —  carved  and  wrought  of  material  per- 


YODOGIMA  219 

chance  as  crude  and  hopeful  as  any  other  now  strug 
gling  as  they  once  did  —  stimulated  within  her  breast 
a  desire  to  extend  a  helping  hand :  the  cold  dread  of 
war,  the  cruel  thirst  for  greed,  the  angry  cry  of, 
"On  with  the  battle,"  behind  it  all,  underlying  the 
activities  out  of  which  their  culture  had  grown,  froze 
hard  the  blood  in  her  veins. 

Here  were  men  blessed  with  plenty  and  endowed 
of  godliness  still  striking  at  each  other ;  more  artisti 
cally,  and  effectively,  but  none  the  less  cowardly  for 
that. 

"What  mean  these  men  by  fighting  so?"  inquired 
she,  searching  deeper  than  Harunaga  had  divined. 

"To  enforce  a  will,"  replied  he,  without  any  hesita 
tion. 

"To   vindicate   the    soul?" 

"Yes." 

"Then  it  is  not  cowardly  to  use  force,  or  its  con 
comitant?" 

"No." 

"I  did  no  wrong,  if  that  is  true,  in  visiting  the 
temple,"  mused  she,  unabatedly. 

Harunaga  flushed,  then  turned  pale. 

"Not  at  all,  your  ladyship,"  replied  he,  to  her 
apparent  satisfaction,  though  he  knew  very  well  that 
Christianity  had  been  the  means  of  taking  her  there. 

"You  are  not  pained,  are  you,  Harunaga,  at  what  I 
said?" 

"How  could  I  be,  most  honorable  princess?" 


220  YODOGIMA 

"Then  hereafter  say,  'Yodogima' ;  I  love  to  hear  the 
name." 

The  personal  note,  whatever  his  predilection, 
touched  Harunaga,  as  no  other  had ;  from  the  days  of 
his  childhood,  in  the  service  of  Shibata,  in  far  distant 
Kitanoshi,  he  had  formed  only  the  component  part  of 
a  machine.  The  breath  of  life  touched  him,  accord 
ingly,  as  none  other  had  done.  Here  lived  a  princess, 
possessing  a  mechanism  most  intricate,  suffering  the 
discipline  of  enforced  conditions,  with  all  the  limita 
tions,  yet  breathing  the  very  spirit  of  humanitarian- 
ism.  If  such  as  she  could  find  a  place  in  her  heart 
for  the  flame  that  enlivens,  why  not  he  grasp  at  a 
spark  ? 

"I  shall  serve  you,  Yodogima,  with  all  the  vigor  at 
my  disposal,"  promised  he,  ready  at  last  to  lay  his 
fortune  where  she  had  denied  and  her  father  com 
manded. 

"Then  hark  you,  that  none  escape  his  mesh;  these 
barons  shall  be  taught  what  it  is  to  respect  a  woman." 

And  —  at  least  two  of  them  were  apparently  placing 
themselves  in  a  position  rapidly  to  learn  something 
of  the  cost  as  well. 

Mori,  of  Hiroshima ;  Shimadzu,  of  Satsuma ;  Ukida, 
of  Bizen,  and  some  thirty-five  more  of  the  eastern  and 
central  daimyos  had  already  joined  the  Ishida  con 
tingent  in  the  vicinity  of  Ozaka,  observably,  and  a 
formidable  host,  larger  than  she  or  anybody  else  had 
anticipated,  seemed  gathering  under  the  banner  of 
the  one  man,  whom  Yodogima  down  deep  in  her 


VUlHHllMA  221 

heart  detested,  the  very  aspirant  who  had  proffered  a 
deadly  cup  and  coveted  the  hand  of  an  intended  vic 
tim's  widow,  the  deceiver  then  standing  outside  the 
walls  of  her  own  castle  crying,  "Long  live  Hideyori," 
and,  "Death  to  lyeyasu." 

lyeyasu :  the  only  man  who  had  ever  moved  her ! 
Others  appealed  to  the  sense,  to  pride,  and  to  con 
sideration,  even  love  of  a  kind,  yet,  as  events  multi 
plied  and  the  time  grew  shorter,  a  living  realization 
momentarily  overshadowed  every  expectation  of  hers; 
the  godlight  again  shone  brighter  than  ever. 

Must  she  stop  this  cruelty?     Yodogima  asked  and 
answered  the  question  till  burdened  of  its  thought  — 
>he  could  have  ended  it  all,  at  least  temporarily,  she 
believed — then  gazed  longingly  at  the  child  there  in 
her  presence. 

"What  would  you  do,  Hideyori,  if  set  upon  by 
angry  wolves?"  asked  she,  of  the  child,  playfully. 

"Fight,"  responded  he,  with  scarce  another  major 
word  at  his  tongue's  use. 

"I  guess  it's  the  nature  of  the  beast,"  mused  she, 
pressing  the  boy  closer  up  ;  "and  till  subdued  there 
shall  be  need  for  gods  as  a  God,  so  let  them  at  it." 

The  chances  for  success,  however,  against  such 
odds  —  growing  rapidly  with  Ishida's  popularity  — 
seemed  almost  beyond  the  possibilities  of  one,  though 
as  capable  as  lyeyasu,  and  —  wen-  lie  to  win,  Chris 
tianity  must  be  doomed ;  she  understood  full  well  his 
proclivities  and  surmised  their  inevitable  result.  And 
Hidevori !  Should  Ishida  win.  then  her  own  flesh  and 


222  YODOGIMA 

blood  must  go  the  selfsame  intended  way  that  Hide- 
yoshi  had  barely  escaped.  She  must,  then,  choose 
between  two  evils :  the  present  downfall  of  Chris 
tianity,  on  the  one  hand,  or  the  destruction  of  an 
only  living  child,  and  that,  too,  a  son,  on  the  other. 
An  ideal  at  stake,  with  her,  who  had  chosen  dif 
ferently  ? 

"You  have  my  permission,  Esyo,  to  visit  this 
Hideki,  now  that  Oyea,  his  aunt,  is  dead  and  buried. 
But,  mind  you,  it  is  a  privilege  only,  that  your  sister 
grants  —  perhaps  for  a  better  reason  than  the  one  you 
have  in  mind." 

Esyo  sulked,  but  went  nevertheless ;  her  energies 
were  bent  not  upon  completing  the  subversion  of 
Hideki  from  Ishida  to  lyeyasu,  as  contemplated  by 
Oyea,  to  the  last,  and  now,  perchance,  thought  of, 
favorably,  by  Yodogima,  as  an  expedient,  but  toward 
a  far  more  difficult  and  deeper  reaching  task :  the  sub 
stitution  of  her  own  husband,  Hidetada,  for  Hide- 
yasu,  his  elder  brother,  in  favor  with  and  as  pros 
pective  successor  to  lyeyasu,  the  father,  whom  she 
already  believed  in  a  fair  way  to  win  and  hold  com 
plete  mastership,  socially  and  politically,  yet,  at  heart, 
would  not  condescend  to  acknowledge  a  kindness  at 
the  hands  of  an  elder,  though  most  patient  and  fore- 
bearing,  sister. 

"Please  do  not  trouble  yourself ;  I  am  not  so  easily 
read  as  Jokoin,  thank  you ;  besides,  it  is  unnecessary ; 
I  am  quite  capable,  of  doing  as  much,  without  any- 


YODOGIMA  223 

body's  favor,"  snapped  Esyo,  hastily  departing  —  none 
too  soon,  however,  to  escape  a  danger  that  she  little 
contemplated,  yet  her  sister  had  fully  anticipated  and 
well  enough  avoided. 


224  YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  horrors  of  war  crowded  in  and  around :  also 
its  exigencies.  Self-preservation  enforced 
some  kind  of  participation :  the  same  elemental  voice 
bade  her  keep  hands  off.  A  fight  to  the  death,  perhaps 
the  victor  stamping  his  imprint  indelibly  and  unaltera 
bly,  awaited  her:  Yodogima  sniffed  the  enamour  of 
contest,  of  powers  gained  and  a  will  unhampered,  and 
the  gods  could  not  have  swerved  her  in  the  test  a 
Taira,  of  ages  gone,  had  fought  for  the  pleasure. 

"I  will  rule,  and  men  shall  bow  to  a  force  subtler, 
fiercer,  and  mightier  than  any  man  has  got,"  shouted 
she,  at  her  shadow,  in  the  open,  at  Ozaka,  and  the 
echo,  from  the  hills  at  Sawayama,  as  well  of  Yedo, 
burst  back  upon  her  their  hitherto  unchallenged 
answer. 

"It  is  false,"  cried  she,  this  time,  and  the  reply  then 
pleased  her;  it  sounded  more  like  the  voice  of  a 
man. 

But  she  must  not  thus  hurl  defiance  in  his  ears; 
had  she  not  been  taught  for  centuries  that  woman's 
strength  lay  in  meekness,  arose  from  humbleness, 
grew  with  submission,  abided  the  household,  and 
sweltered  with  servility? 

"Ha,  ha  —  fie  on  them  !"  laughed  she  now,  ashamed 
of  her  own  foolish  recollections,  so  feeble-minded  and 


YODOGIMA  225 

asinine  withal.    "I'll  invoke  his  tactis,  but  with  a  turn 
he  little  comprehends." 

Both  of  these  men,  Ishida  and  lyeyasu,  must  be  got 
rid  of.  How  to  do  it,  were  a  problem.  Ishida,  it 
seemed  imperative,  should  be  attended  first ;  his  force 
had  grown  the  stronger,  and  with  lyeyasu  out  of  the 
way  he  himself  would  stand  little  in  awe  of  her  alone, 
concerned  not  at  all,  as  he  was,  about  scruples  or  the 
bushida.  Still  more,  if  needs  use  it  Yodogima  reck 
oned  her  hold  upon  the  heart  of  lyeyasu,  whereas 
Ishida  in  authority  had  been  a  colder,  altogether 
listless  lover. 

The  clash  of  arms  already  sounded  from  distant 
Aidzu,  where  Uyesuga,  Ishida's  main  ally,  had  pur 
posely  inaugurated  a  ruse  to  entice  the  enemy  as  far 
from  the  capital  as  possible.  lyeyasu  fell  into  the 
trap;  went  there  pell  mell,  deploying  but  a  small  con 
tingent  to  guard  the  gates  at  Fushima :  took  with  him 
those  captains  of  the  old  guard  who  had  fairly  joined 
themselves  to  him,  leaving  their  wives  and  families 
behind,  outside  the  ramparts  at  Ozaka.  Ishida  struck 
first  at  Fushima :  it  fell,  and  the  next  move  encom 
passed  the  capture  and  imprisonment  of  these  same 
wives  and  families  left  at  Ozaka,  believing  that  their 
ransom  would  insure  to  him  the  disaffection  and 
rejoinder  of  some  of  lyeyasu's  leading  generals  and 
supporters.  Esyo,  however,  had  gone;  but  Yodo 
gima,  for  good  reasons,  best  known  to  herself,  re 
mained  as  silent  as  the  tomb  of  Hideyoshi  had  become. 

Grace  of  Tango,  the  wife  of  Hosokawa,  now  one  of 


226  YODOGIMA 

lyeyasu's  foremost  leaders,  served  at  once  as  a  first 
and  most  likely  victim.  She,  good  Christian  that  she 
was,  scorned  the  distinction,  and  extending  her  neck 
—  as  became  a  dutiful,  loyal,  loving  wife  —  for  the 
stroke  of  a  servant  (prearranged  by  the  thoughtful 
husband,  upon  taking  his  leave),  paid  the  penalty  as 
became  her  station,  regardless  of  feeling  or  profession. 
Made  it  possible  for  Ishida  thus  to  blunder,  and  Yodo- 
gima  to  endear  the  whole  Christian  fraternity,  of  what 
soever  camp  or  degree,  by  sympathizing  with  them  in 
the  loss  of  one  so  good  and  true  at  heart,  if  not  of 
conviction.  Nor  did  she  stop  at  that  alone,  but 
secretly  dispatching  her  own  sister,  Jokoin,  the  sooner 
to  inform  the  hitherto  somewhat  wavering  captains 
as  she  herself  had  better  designed,  incidently  inform 
ing  them  that  no  further  bloodshed  should  take  place 
in  the  vicinity  of  Ozaka,  upon  the  whole  induced  them, 
one  and  all  alike,  to  swear  fresher,  if  more  suscepti 
ble,  allegiance  to  lyeyasu  —  for  the  sole  purpose,  if 
none  other,  of  avenging  the  one  death  that  had 
resulted  so  pathetically,  yet  none  the  less  opportunely. 

Two  definite  accomplishments  Yodogima  had 
wrought  into  the  indiscretions  of  a  foe  —  her  seem 
ingly  most  dangerous  one,  Ishida ;  she  had  weakened 
his  position  by  uniting  the  men  he  had  coveted  the 
more  certainly  to  lyeyasu,  and  gained  the  everlasting 
good  will  of  all  the  Christians  whatever  the  colors  they 
bore. 

Ishida  now  concentrated  upon  Sekigahara,  antici 
pating  the  hot-headed  return  of  lyeyasu  and  the  sorely 


YODOG1MA  227 

tried  captains  now  in  his  advance.  Mori  remained 
behind  at  Ozaka,  ostensibly  to  watch  the  remainder 
of  those  wives  and  families,  finally  fenced  in  and  aban 
doned  to  a  gentler  fate  than  at  first  contemplated. 
Neither  would  he  withdraw  from  the  castle,  save  as 
directed  or  encouraged  by  Yodogima;  her  company 
had  become,  strangely  to  him,  no  less  delectable  than 
the  inkling  of  her  plans  (that  she  let  slip,  occasionally) 
seemed  inviting,  or  threateningly  wholesome.  Hideki 
had  followed,  sulkily,  to  the  contemplated  battlefield, 
though  his  conduct  at  Fushima  might  have  signified, 
to  one  more  observant  or  less  pressed  than  Ishida,  that 
Esyo  or  someone  as  anxious  had  called,  not  without 
success,  and  gone  her  way,  elsewhere  to  reap  the 
advantage. 

Hideki,  nevertheless,  was  assigned  to  an  important 
post  on  the  right.  Shimadzu  half-heartedly  manned 
the  left,  Mori's  brother  —  knowingly,  of  course  — 
maintained  the  advance  (well  off,  at  one  side,  however, 
and  in  such  position  easily  to  "slide"  in  any  direction), 
while  Konishi,  master  strategist  and  faithful  adherent, 
bore  the  brunt,  in  the  center,  where  lyeyasu  must 
fight  to  pass. 

And  they  came  on,  the  veteran  lyeyasu  in  the  lead, 
a  hundred  thousand  of  them,  with  Hideyasu,  his  main 
reliance  and  intended  successor,  in  the  rear,  com 
manding  a  reserve,  something  like  half  as  strong. 

But  these  failed  to  arrive,  this  flower  in  repose  and 
the  favorite  of  his  father;  Esyo  had  discreetly 
inveigled  him  into  an  encounter  at  one  side,  with 


228  YODOGIMA 

Sanada,  the  fiery  youth  whom  she  had  unknowingly 
and  as  witlessly  inveigled  into  the  taking  of  sides 
against  her  own  father-in-law. 

The  battle  thus  began  and  raged,  at  Sekigahara, 
without  the  aid  or  prospect  of  Hideyasu.  lyeyasu, 
angered  at  the  failure  of  his  trusted  progeny,  charged 
in  person,  took  every  risk  of  defeat,  and  Yodogima, 
threatened  with  the  consequence,  invoking  a  last 
resource,  sent  forthwith  for  Mori,  saying: 

"Advise  your  brother  to  hasten  here;  I  can  better 
serve  him  with  lyeyasu  than  with  Ishida." 

No  further  encouragement  need  she  use,  for  these 
were  not  fighting  men ;  Hideyoshi  had  previously 
taught  them  the  greater  potency  of  diplomacy.  But 
Hideki ! 

'4Jokoin?"  commanded  Yodogima. 

"I   am   here,   sister." 

"'Can  you   reach   lyeyasu?" 

"Certainly,"  replied  she,  as  confident  as  in  the  days 
of  Kamakiyama. 

"Then  tell  lyeyasu  to  fire  upon  Hideki.  He  will 
inquire  the  reason,  but  you  are  to  reply  that  Yodogima 
commands  it." 

Jokoin  did  as  bid,  and  lyeyasu  pondered  why ;  Esyo 
had  advised  him  of  a  different  understanding,  but 
somehow  he  could  not  resist  the  lure  of  Yodogima. 
Time  were  precious,  just  now,  too  much  so  to  waste 
it  parleying  with  self,  so  the  order  was  given :  Hideki, 
stunned  and  driven,  rallied  his  men  and  wheeling 


YODOGIMA  229 

joined   his   would-be   confederate,    lycyasu,   and   the 
battle  was  won. 

None  but  Yodogima  knew  how  it  had  been  dom  or 
the  disaffection  brought  about,  but  there  was  one  who 
down  in  his  heart  bled  at  the  failure  of  a  son  and 
would  hearken  only  the  savior  of  Sckigahara.  Ishida 
routed  and  butchered,  lyeyasu  turned  as  hastily  to 
ward  Ozaka. 


23o  YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

MARCHING  down  the  valley,  set  with  peaceful 
homes,  disturbed  only  by  the  retreating  frag 
ments  of  a  broken  and  routed  army,  twdce  the  size 
of  his  but  then  endangered  advance,  lyeyasu  mar 
velled  the  unstability,  the  pliableness,  the  simplicity, 
and  withal  the  potency  of  man. 

The  mountains  around  sat  upon  their  base,  immova 
ble,  except  at  the  cost  of  total  annihilation ;  vegetation 
retained  its  vitality,  till  stricken  from  the  root  giving 
sustenance;  wild  beasts  at  bay,  fought  unto  death. 
But  man,  he  above  all  others,  turned  his  heels  at  the 
commonest  occasion,  more  than  any  other  creature 
here  on  earth  stupidly  hearkened  the  devil,  willingly 
disobeyed  the  divinest  of  injuncts,  "know  thyself." 
It  resolved  that  the  more  his  liberty  were  granted  the 
less  intelligence  he  retained;  and  yet  a  new  civiliza 
tion  had  come  to  their  door,  knocking,  and  carrying 
with  it  seeds  of  discontent,  quarrelling  over  methods 
of  government,  as  unsettled  about  the  origin  of  man 
as  uncertain  of  God's  (Kami's)  prevision. 

"Away  with  such  nonsense,"  threatened  he,  travel 
ing  along,  fully  resolved.     "These  hills  and  valleys 
have   held   to  the   truer   doctrine   since   Izanagi  and 
Izanami  (the  god  and  the  goddess  principles  positive 
and  negative),  meeting  upon  the  floating  bridge  of 


YODOGIMA  231 

heaven,  did  as  God  (Kami)  willed,  placing  man  upon 
this  earth  to  do  and  survive  His  edict  and  that  only. 
Speculate  as  you  will,  man  bears  no  ultimate  relation 
to  the  thing's  placed  here  for  his  use  and  sustenance. 
He  is  descended  from  above :  let  the  jungle  answer  to 
his  call ;  intelligence  looks  heavenward :  the  throne 
unmistakably  echoes  the  voice  of  God." 

And  in  that  revelation,  as  before,  perfumed  with  the 
creeping,  sheltering  azaelia,  lyeyasu  discerned  the 
hand  of  Yodogima.  He  would  now  hasten  to  her  and 
claim  what  then  he  had  the  courage  to  refuse.  God 
had  preserved  her  for  him  and  him  for  her.  The 
failure  of  Hideyasu,  his  own  son,  had  come  as  a  fitting 
rebuke  to  the  devil  lurking  underneath  :  his  soul  at  last 
seemed  purified  ;  the  fragrance,  the  divinity  of  love  now 
found  within  a  befitting  response;  the  mind  cleared  in 
its  vision,  strengthened  of  a  will  untarnished,  tin- 
soul  cried  out,  livid  and  alluring  —  God  had  willed 
him  great,  and  in  that  love,  which  had  not  once  failed 
him,  the  godhead  unfolded  atop  that  it  is  not  a 
province  or  pleasure  to  doubt  and  question. 

Christianity  had  set  up  faith  as  gospel,  which  had 
fallen  at  the  first  stand ;  courage  faced  it,  divided 
them,  and  crushed  theirs:  his  edict  alone  should  suf 
fice  to  banish  as  much  forever  from  the  land :  what 
more  the  breath  of  a  goddess;  one  fraught  with  the 
inspiration  of  victory;  a  living  example  of  the  divinity 
of  man ;  the  very  incarnation  of  purity ;  her  trans- 
cendant  ideal  worthy  of  his  most  uncompromising 
sanctity — lyeyasu.  penitent,  in  the  face  of  all  that 


232  YODOGIMA 

had  gone  before,  regardless  of  doubting  men's  opin 
ions  or  the  carping  tongues  of  unfitted  women,  still 
believed  Yodogima  inviolate :  held  her  incapable  of 
word  or  deed  suggestive  though  befitting. 

"My  foot  is  upon  the  dragon's  neck:  appear,  god 
dess  divine;  it  is  I  who  speaks!"  commanded  he,  halt 
ing  at  the  mountain's  crest,  overlooking  the  spreading 
valley,  where  reposed  the  harbinger  of  his  fancied 
haven. 

The  hero  of  Sekigahara  had  dreamed  before,  hus 
banded  a  love  absorbing  virtues  as  intense,  but  never 
had  reality  seemed  as  close  as  now.  Fired  at  the 
thought  of  mastery,  he  would  drink  deeper  than 
ideality  had  bidden,  quaff  at  last  the  golden  elixir  of  a 
realized  fount,  bring  down  to  earth  heaven's  supremest 
joy  and  trend  thence  the  glad  onrush  with  the  prize  oi 
living  securely  resting  willingly  and  unbidden  in  his 
arms. 

The  heavens  over  him  rent  in  twain,  and  out  of  the 
once  unfathomed  gap  there  streamed  the  warmth  and 
radiance  of  Amaterasu,  grand,  inspiring,  and  withal  so 
promising.  The  light  of  love  cast  its  halo  over  the 
peaceful,  towering  walls  of  Ozaka :  the  face  of  Yodo 
gima  stood  out  smilingly  against  a  background  of  blue 
there  reflected,  overset  the  dark,  unvisaged  canopy  o? 
time  sweltering  and  seething  underneath. 

"She  is  mine  —  God,  she  is  mine !"  swore  he,  stamp 
ing  down  the  hill-slope,  his  veins  dilated,  and  expres 
sion  overjoyed. 

There,  in  the  sunlight,  high  over  the  emblazoned 


YODOGIMA  233 

embattlements,  with  the  gates  closed,  an  army  of 
faithful  defenders,  at  either  side,  overhead,  and  at 
every  turret  stationed,  the  hills  and  valley  responding 
to  the  glad  visitation  of  now  rapidly  receding,  romp 
ing  rain  clouds,  Yodogima  pleasingly  returned  that 
message  which  holds  dearer  than  life  the  truth  of 
existence. 

"It  is  he!"  cried  she,  "God  knows  that  I  love  him 
—  see !  He  has  made  the  very  elements  oblivious  to 
any  denial.  Oh,  lyeyasu ;  fail  me  not.  What  are 
these  dead  and  living  things,  but  for  you?  Hasten, 
oh  hasten  ;  dread  moments  fly ;  he  comes ;  bravo !" 

Hurrying  maids,  and  mirrors,  and  treasures  dear, 
told  the  welcome  that  then  awaited  his  coming. 
Cranes  white  as  snow  stalked  lazily  in  the  reed 
marshes,  and  flowers  precious  perfumed  the  gardens 
in  readiness.  Spotless  floors  and  walls  of  golden 
lacquer  again  hushed  with  expectancy.  There  were 
cuckoos  now  of  rarest  note,  and  banks  and  borders  of 
geishas  to  enliven  every  step,  and  charm  —  the  soul 
poured  out  its  abundance,  the  heart  trembled  at  only 
thought,  the  mind  waxed  eager  and  resplendant,  and 
the  tongue  failed  her: 

"Come,  oh  come  —  my  lover,  come!" 

Down  at  the  gates,  across  the  moats,  underneath  the 
outer  walls,  of  those  triple  terraced  embankments, 
from  the  housed-over  plain  at  the  bottom,  to  the 
terrated  enclosures  above,  an  ardent,  anxious,  confi 
dent  man  rapped  impatiently,  hotly,  daringly  for  ad 
mission. 


234  YODOGIMA 

"Who  comes  there?"  rang  out  huskily,  at  the 
tunnelled-out  entrance. 

lyeyasu  paused;  the  defiance  seemed  as  if  from 
below.  No  such  sound  had  disturbed  his  fancied  right 
since  the  days  when  a  worthier  blade  dared  invoke  the 
blessings  of  denial,  and  the  dull  grindings  of  an  indis- 
cernable  machine,  the  tireless  demands  of  an  unfal 
tering  conventionality,  startled  him  into  questioning 
verily  the  survival  of  anything. 

"There  must  be  some  mistake,"  ventured  he,  coldly 
pondering  the  consequence  of  his  arrest. 

"No ;  there  is  none,"  answered  the  keeper,  in  order ; 
"travellers  should  make  sure  that  they  are  prepared, 
before  seeking  entrance  to  a  strange  place ;  the  prin 
cess,  Yodogima,  resides  within,  and  as  observed  you 
have  come  a  long  way,  with  a  large  retinue,  and  must 
be  desirous  of  some  rest  and  recreation.  Pray  you, 
keep  without,  till  quite  ready;  the  princess  just  now 
implores :  I  command  it." 

"But  I  am  not  a  stranger  here:  the  princess  wills 
me  enter." 

"Just  so.  Therefore  look  you  well  that  deed  and 
will  carry  corresponding  virtues,  before  the  one  lower 
in  consequence  invokes  another  higher  in  authority. 
Come,  prepare  yourself;  it  has  been  done,  before." 

"lyeyasu  waits  on  none ;  I  have  the  means  at  hand 
to  enforce  my  way." 

"So  you  have,  but  consider  first  the  defence ;  no  man 
passes  here  except  at  his  peril." 

lyeyasu  withdrew,  and  Kyogoku  reported  the  cir- 


YODOGIMA  235 

cumstance  to  his  superior,  Kitagira ;  who  had  dis 
patched  him  for  his  audacity  had  not  Jokoin  appeared 
to  prevent  it;  lyeyasu  had  sent  her  in  to  inquire  the 
reason  of  his  refusal ;  she,  counselling  Yodogima, 
sought  to  fasten  the  blame  upon  Kitagira ;  thus  saving 
her  own  husband,  for  purposes  of  her  own,  at  the  ex 
pense  of  Kitagira,  an  innocent  man ;  whom  lyeyasu 
forthwith  insisted  should  be  dismissed  and  banished, 
before  himself  consenting  to  an  audience  with  Yodo 
gima;  having  sooner  effected  his  own  entrance  past 
Kyogoku  in  the  disguise  of  a  woman's  palanquin. 

"lyeyasu  refuses  to  see  me,  except  the  child's  guar 
dian  be  dismissed  ?"  repeated  Yodogima,  thoughtfully. 

"That  is  the  advice,"  replied  Harunaga,  who  had 
interceded  to  save  Kitagira. 

"Then  let  Kitagira  produce  lyeyasu ;  here,  in 
audience ;  he  has  the  force  with  which  to  do  it :  if 
he  have  not  the  courage,  why,  then,  lyeyasu  may  dis 
miss  him ;  I  have,  as  it  is,  really  no  occasion  for  doing 
so  —  but,  I  want  to  see  lyeyasu." 

Kitagira  vacillated ;  he  believed  Harunaga's  grow 
ing  influence  over  Hideyori  and  estimate  by  the 
mother  unwarranted,  and  would  have  married  Yodo 
gima  to  lyeyasu  at  once  had  he  not  discerned  in  that 
the  ultimate  defeat  of  Hideyoshi,  the  deceased  taiko's 
succession.  Said  he,  to  Hayami  Morihisa,  a  captain 
of  the  Ozaka  guard: 

"lyeyasu  plans  to  wed  Yodogima  and  substitute 
himself  in  authority  over  Hideyori:  what  we  must  do 
is  to  gain  time.  Let  him  take  her  as  hostage,  if  he 


236  YODOGIMA 

choose,  but  see  to  it  that  no  marriage  take  place  while 
the  son  is  yet  under  age.  Hideyori  is  an  intelligent 
lad,  and  capable  of  crushing  Hidetada  or  any  other 
of  lyeyasu's  descendants,  but  in  the  meantime,  we 
should  let  lyeyasu  die;  to  go  against  him  now,  with 
the  crushed  and  defeated  Christians  acknowledging 
Ozaka's  protection,  would  be  but  to  invite  defeat ;  the 
daimyos  and  captains  of  established  faith  would,  to  a 
man,  rally  to  the  cause  of  lyeyasu." 

You  reason  well,  Kitagira,"  replied  Hayami,  thereat 
approved  in  what  he  said  by  the  remainder  of  the 
seven  captains,  "but  Harunaga,  as  a  man,  could  not 
recommend  it,  and  his  advice  is  paramount  at  court. 
Nor  would,  nor  should  the  daimyos  submit  to  Yodo- 
gima's  virtual  imprisonment ;  the  taiko  never  con 
templated  any  such  irrevence,  and  I  am  sure  that  she, 
herself,  to-day,  with  a  voice  unequalled  by  any  other, 
among  all  classes,  throughout  the  land,  once  able  to 
resist  Hideyoshi,  himself,  as  she  was,  would  hardly 
consent  to  a  degradation  of  the  sort  you  suggest,  or 
so  belittle  herself  and  those  dependent  upon  her  as 
to  fawn  favors  for  or  of  anybody.  I  shall  advise 
Harunaga  of  your  plans  and  let  him  decide ;  he  stands 
best  in  favor  with  Yodogima." 

And  he  did  so,  forthwith. 

"It  is  a  make-believe,"  replied  she,  to  Harunaga, 
who  had  related  the  proposal,  truthfully  and  unre 
servedly  ;  "lyeyasu  is  not  so  much  to  fear  —  yet  I  shall 
not  dismiss  Kitagira;  he  is  a  creature  of  lyeyasu's. 


YODOGIMA  237 

and  my  best  and  only  pawn.  Does  lyeyasu  still  refuse 
me  a  visit?" 

"Yes,  my  dear." 

''Please  do  not  call  me  'dear' ;  it  is  enough  to  retain 
one's  confidence  in  men,  without  their  overstepping 
bounds  granted.  But  this  lyeyasu :  where  is  he  now, 
that  he  can  refuse?" 

"Inside  the  castle  grounds,  and  not  so  very  far  dis 
tant,  either,  your  ladyship." 

"Not  'your  ladyship',  Harunaga ;  I  said  it  should 
be  'Yodogima' — I  do  believe  the  world  itself  shall 
sooner  or  later  grow  into  a  veritable  machine." 

"Yodogima!" 

"That  is  more  to  my  liking.  Why  everybody  or 
anybody  so  impersonal  ?  But  lyeyasu :  I  shall  go  to 
him,  he  refusing  to  come  to  me:  perhaps  Kitagira 
may  thus  retain  his  head,  and  I  my  lover.  What  think 
you,  Harunaga?" 

"I  am  at  your  service." 

"And  T  can  trust  you ;  results  are  the  best  sort  of 
proof." 

The  fires  had  by  this  time  considerably  abated,  and 
out  of  the  glowing  embers  there  burned  a  warmth  as 
steady  and  as  sure  as  the  reactional  beating  back 
upon  a  passionate  ordainedly  evolves  within  life's 
exultant  strand.  lyeyasu  sulked,  and  Yodogima  took 
heart;  his  brow  darkened,  and  her  intention  waxed 
the  brighter;  had  his  will  been  permitted,  her  lot 
need  not  have  been  resolved,  for  he  would  have  her 
shorn  of  every  influence  but  his ;  he  believed  her  pure, 


238  YODOGIMA 

and  out  of  his  blamelessness  and  its  correlative  de 
mands  had  come  reflection:  making  it  possible  for 
Yodogima  to  decide  upon  revealing  the  exact  light  in 
which  she  responded — the  only  meed  of  a  living- 
affinity. 

"I  hope  I  find  you  comfortable,  and  —  " 

"In  a  good  humor,"  responded  he,  to  her  half 
spoken  address ;  barely  turning  to  recognize  her,  as 
she  approached,  considerately ;  bowing  as  became  her 
and  the  niceties  of  the  situation  prompted. 

"Yes,"  replied  she,  unabashed ;  "I  am,  and  why 
should  lyeyasu  not  be  in  as  fair  mood?" 

"Perhaps  I  ought  to  be,  but  I  cannot  quite  bring 
myself  to  believe  that  I  am  as  deserving.  You  make 
sport  with  me,  I  do  so  myself,  and  the  world  is  no 
different  than  we." 

"It  is  more  alluring,  however,  I  take  it,  in  the 
case  of  some  than  of  others.  Look  underneath  the 
smiles,  lyeyasu ;  it  is  not  all  gold  that  glitters ;  per 
chance  my  heart  may  have  bled,  is  bleeding  this  very 
minute  ;  do  not  consider  me  happy,  till  —  " 

"I  am  out  of  the  way,"  interceded  he,  not  one  whit 
thawed  or  observant. 

"Look  at  me,"  commanded  she,  her  very  frame 
racking  with  a  passion  that  he,  in  his  coldness,  had 
not  the  power  to  comprehend. 

"You  do  love  me,  then,"  stammered  lyeyasu, 
ravenously  reading  the  words  so  lengthily  written  for 
his  dull  eyes  to  feast  faun-like  upon. 


YODOGIMA  239 

"Love  you?  1  presume  you  know  what  it  is  to 
love?  I  do." 

"Yodogima!  Forgive  me,"  plead  he,  the  clouds 
vanishing  as  they  had  gathered :  uncontrolled  and 
misapprhended. 

"Yes;  but  not  with  the  assurance  you  possess," 
replied  Yodogima,  more  anxious  to  divulge  than  he 
were  ready  to  exact,  now,  any  secret  incapable  of 
ingaining  or  outliving  a  nature  as  commonplace  as  his. 

The  princess  had  seated  herself,  at  leisure,  a  little 
in  front  of  the  rapidly  recovering  lover,  whose  ardor 
would  again  have  bordered  the  extreme  had  not  her 
last  admonition  once  more  set  him  thinking.  But 
lyeyasifs  mind  moved  like  a  tortoise,  and  Yodogima 
flushed  a  little,  no  doubt  at  the  prospect  of  having  to 
reach  a  bit  deeper  into  that  unthinkable  comprehension 
of  his  —  with  which  she  had  wrestled  mostly  since 
their  meeting  underneath  the  really  suggestive 
azaelia. 

lyeyasu  observed,  however,  the  one  indiscretion, 
and  would  have  bowed  to  the  mat,  at  her  feet  —  no 
closer  contact  being  permitted,  either  in  heart  or  at 
will,  by  the  bushido  and  of  choice  —  but  for  Yodo- 
giina's  further  cautioning: 

"Pray  do  not  prostrate  yourself;  the  victor  ma\ 
not  prove  to  have  been  worthy." 

lyeyasu  held  himself,  sat  there  in  bended  fashion, 
considering  hail-doubtfully,  half-consciously  the  warn 
ing.    A  thousand  possibilities  leaped  to  the  fore,  sud 
denly  and   provokingly.     Had   he   been   wrong,   and 


240  YODOGIMA 

her  detractors  truthful ;  were  she  clever,  and  he  over- 
trustful;  did  some  terrible  revelation  parch  those  lips 
he  had  sworn  divine ;  or  was  it  the  idle  mockings  of 
his  own  brutal  response  that  troubled  her  and  mys 
tified  him? 

"Tell  me,  Yodogima  —  no,  no;  you  must  not;  it 
would  kill  me;  it  is  not  true;  they  speak  falsely  —  shall 
this  weapon  vindicate  me,  or  you,  Yodogima;  you 
have  but  to  nod  the  head,  and  spare  your  lips !" 

"Ha,  ha,  ha  —  lyeyasu !  Put  away  that  knife  and 
invoke  a  wit.  I  should  never  have  guessed  you  half 
so  sentimental.  Why,  I  do  believe  you  would  make  a 
martyr  of  yourself,  or  me  —  who  wouldn't  be  at  all 
worth  the  trouble.  Come;  sit  down  again;  let  us 
reason  it  out;  one  drop  of  blood  is,  after  all,  worth 
a  lot  of  nobleness  —  as  codes  are  written  in  these 
times." 

"I'll  never  sit  down,  till  you  declare  them  false  — 
that  you  are  determined  to  talk,  as  all  women  are.  Nor 
have  I  anything  to  gain,  at  my  age,  by  reasoning; 
acting  is  all  important,  whatever  the  point,  now  that 
the  end  crowds  fast  upon  me.  Shout  it  if  you  like, 
but  consider  well  the  effect." 

"I  shall  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  Take  care  of  your 
own  shattered  prospects;  I  have  all  I  can  do  to  bear 
with  you,  let  alone  conserve  your  ease.  You  deny 
me  the  privilege  of  explaining,  hence  defeat  me  of  a 
duty  I  had  intended  performing." 

"Oh,  well ;  I  can  presume  as  much." 

"If  you  like,  pray  do." 


YODOGIMA  241 

"I  shall." 

"Then  what?" 

"Go." 

"And  why?" 

"Because  you  are  lost." 

"Then  I  but  knock  in  vain !" 

"Christianity  is  responsible  for  it,  not  I  —  unde, 
standing  had  saved  the  need  of  forgiveness." 

"Perhaps;  but  I  should  advise  you,  if  advice  be 
meet,  to  listen ;  there  may  not  be,  after  all,  so  much  to 
choose,  between  knowledge  and  faith.  Have  you  no 
other  estimate?" 

"No ;  nor  do  I  want  one ;  I  am  satisfied." 

"And  I  am  pained ;  yet  I  have  faith :  were  'know 
ing'  my  only  asset,  I  should  shut  you  in,  here,  till 
good  and  done  with  you;  I,  too,  might  make  some 
sordid  use  of  a  plaything,  but  there  are  larger  com 
pensations  in  store  for  those  who  look  more  charita 
bly  upon  their  brothers :  therefore  I  dismiss  you, 
with  a  suitable  escort  hence." 

lyeyasu  went  as  permitted  and  directed. 

Had  she  driven  her  lover  from  her?  Should  she 
have  accepted  him  on  faith,  granted  his  unchallenged 
desire,  and  ignored  truth?  Might  either  passive,  or, 
if  needs  be,  active  lying  have  resolved  better  their 
happiness?  Could  heaven  be  attained  without  knowl 
edge?  Buddhism  said  no;  Christianity  claimed  yes, 
but  deeper  than  these,  broader  than  either,  more  com 
pelling  than  any  other,  Yodogima's  religion  searched, 
expanded,  and  enforced  truth's  unclaimed  adherence. 


242  YODOGIMA 

And  yet,  how  attain  it?  In  denying  him,  she  had 
falsified :  in  accepting1  she  had  done  more :  how  reduce 
the  blessings  of  God  —  infinite,  all-compulsory? 

The  very  thought  of  her  great  sin  overbore  Yodo- 
gima  with  a  determination  to  survive  any  test.  The 
walls  around  her  resounded  with  a  growth  and  a 
strength  fairly  laughing  to  scorn  the  very  desira 
bility  of  absolution  —  lyeyasu  had  done  right,  and 
yet  erred ;  Christ  filled  a  void,  at  least,  and  for  that 
should  not  be  cast  upon. 

"I'll  live  down  the  wrong  I've  done,"  mused  she 
"and  when  it's  absolved-  with  the  blood  shed  of  my 
own  veins,  there'll  be  no  need  of  condonations,  and 
faith,  hope,  and  charity,  knowledge,  uprightness  or 
consideration,  the  state,  the  church,  and  the  castes, 
shall  have  vanished  in  the  stead  of  one  united  and 
indivisible  brotherhood,  where  sin  and  sorrow,  the 
virtues  and  the  joys  are  no  longer  remembered  of 
man. 

The  countenance  of.  her  fathers  looked  down  from 
an  old  kakemono  (picture)  hanging  from  the  wall, 
behind  the  shrine,  above  the  potted  pine,  with  kincliv 
expression. 

The  princess  gazed  long  and  earnestly  thereat,  then 
said  to  herself: 

"You,  too,  shall  vanish,  and  all  that  we  prize  or 
hate  of  this  earth  shall  have  sometime  proven  itself 
of  no  more  final  consequence  than  the  slenderest  reed 
that  grows  and  withers  with  the  rising  and  the  setting 
of  the  sun.  My  little  sins  and  virtues,  his,  and  theirs, 


YODOG1MA  243 

will  then  resolve  and  not  abide  the  existence  of  a 
soul.  God  himself  shall  stand  revealed,  and  the  world 
attain  its  destined  end  —  a  heaven  here  where  men  are 
doomed,  and  none  denied,  of  treasures  yet  un 
dreamed." 

Sitting  within  the  confines  of  her  own  allotted  en 
vironment,  far  removed  from  the  turmoils  of  render 
ing,  shorn  of  creation's  .compensatory  appeal,  but 
clothed  with  the  choicer  products  of  highest  endeavor, 
Yodogima,  too,  pondered  the  complexity  of  human 
nature,  and  its  languor  or  celerity  in  rendering  the 
tidy  milestones  so  highly  prized  or  bitterly  condemned 
as  we  go.  Yet,  unlike  lyeyasu,  she  had  partaken 
thereof  a  self-suffered  resignation.  What  the  con 
sequence? 


244  YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  XXVII     - 

FOR  the  other,  there  seemed  but  a  single  course. 
He  had  exhausted,  as  it  would  appear,  all  the 
avenues  open  to  him  but  one.  N'o  such  thing  as 
being  born  again  had  entered  into  lyeyasu's  curri 
culum,  and  the  very  tenets  of  his  religion  scorned  the 
lesser  beattitudes  of  a  troubled  soul.  Stoicism  had 
survived  mercy,  and  his  goddess  profaned  the  world 
must  answer. 

"Concentrate  at  Fushima,"  commanded  he,  of  Hide- 
tada,  now  his  favorite,  and  most  trusted  commander. 

"But  Hideyasu  is  intractable :  refuses  to  obey  Hide- 
tada,  his  younger,"  replied  Esyo,  before  Hidetada, 
her  husband,  could  make  any  answer. 

"Then  let  him  be  humbled;  I  declare  Hidetada  my 
successor,  and  do  invest  him  with  supreme  authority 
under  me,"  declared  lyeyasu;  Esyo  withdrawing  to 
convey  the  intelligence,  to  her  displaced  brother-in- 
law,  with  all  the  force  and  color  at  her  tongue's  end. 

A  thousand  regiments  stood  ready  to  assemble  and 
fight  under  lyeyasu's  colors,  and  no  daimyo  of  posi 
tion  would  raise  the  feeblest  protest  —  though  fully 
cognizant  of  the  motive  and  bitterly  regretting  the 
coup  —  against  the  cry  of : 

"Out  with  the  Christians !" 

The  edict  had  gone  forth,  and  regardless  of  lye- 


YODOGIMA  245 

yasu's  intent  no  loyal  defender,  not  a  supporter  of 
the  taiko's  regime,  much  less  any  true  believer  in  the 
mikado,  had  failed  to  respond  to  a  call  so  vital  to  their 
existence,  as  obnoxious  to  their  ways  of  living  and 
welfare  in  death.  Those  godly  men,  the  priests,  and 
their  converts,  by  word  and  by  deed,  had  proven  them 
selves  marauders  and  evil-boding.  They  had  reached 
over  men's  consciences,  struck  at  the  state,  and  med 
dled  with  the  home  —  and  for  what?  To  substitute 
one  religion  for  another  —  and  why? 

"To  gratify  ambition,"  replied  lyeyasu,  and  for  once 
Christianity  found  a  foe  worthy  its  steel. 

"This  stupid  pilot's  inadvertent  speech,  he  of  the 
San  Felipe,  however  petty,  but  echoes  the  corner 
stone  of  a  philosophy,  disguised  and  spread  as  reli 
gion,  intended  to  profit  the  sophiticated  at  the  expense 
of  the  confiding,"  continued  he,  reasoning  with  the 
court  at  Kyoto.  "Why,  they  are  already  sniffling  at 
the  largest  treasury  in  the  empire,  seek  under  the 
guise  of  patriots  to  invest  the  strongest  fortress  left 
us,  and  are  poisoning  the  mind,  as  they  abused  a  reli 
ance,  of  our  departed  taiko's  widow,  the  princess 
Yodogima;  than  whom,  till  their  withering  touch 
defiled,  none  better,  purer,  or  more  faithful  lived. 
Give  me  this  appointment,  I  say;  influence  our 
beloved  mikado  to  make  me  shogun — Yoshiaki  is 
dead  and  Minamoto  blood  is  in  me  —  and  I  shall 
oust  them  and  close  these  doors  to  the  world.  Then, 
and  not  till  then,  shall  peace  reign  in  this  most  favored 
and  only  blessed  domain." 


246  YODOGIMA 

Enthusiasm  bore  them  on,  as  it  always  does,  when 
founded  well,  however  conceived,  and  lyeyasu  thereat 
became  shogun  —  an  honor  Hideyoshi  had  striven  all 
his  life,  yet  died  to  see  lowering  upon  another. 

"It  proves  nothing,"  continued  lyeyasu,  shrugging 
his  shoulders,  "except  the  value  of  blood,  establishes 
the  divinity  of  the  mikado,  and  preserves  to  us  the 
religion  we  know  resolves  in  practice  what  it  preaches. 
I  pronounce  it." 

Not  so  at  Ozaka ;  Yodogima  had  looked  as  far  into 
the  working  of  social,  religious,  and  political  com 
plexities  as  the  sage  of  Yedo  had  thought  to  enter; 
understood  the  San  Felipe  threat  equally  as  well,  but 
regarded  it  rather  as  a  source,  not  as  much  as  any 
sort  of  finality  —  Yodogima  knew  better  the  hearts  of 
men ;  as  a  woman,  she  had  had  an  experience  that  no 
man  can  have :  she  believed  that  lyeyasu's  act  in  seek 
ing  the  shogunate  were  no  less  personal  than  had  been 
Hideyoshi's  purpose  in  denying  her  the  privileges  of 
an  inherent  love ;  than  the  king  of  Spain's  motive  was 
mercenary  in  speeding  forth  the  missionaries. 

"With  transportation  established,  there  is  no  end 
to  greed,  and  Japan,  if  she  would  live,  must  open,  and 
not  close  her  doors.  Does  lyeyasu  think  that  God  in 
his  wisdom  were  so  narrow  as  to  exempt  this  tiny 
spot  from  the  responsibilities  and  compensations 
everywhere  else  around  us  borne?"  said  the  princess, 
to  Hideyori,  who  had  grown  to  respect  his  mother's 
advice,  and  now  sought  it,  before  answering  lyeyasu's 


YODOGIMA  247 

importuning  him  to  proceed  thither  and  do  homage 
to  the  newly  made  shogun's  attempted  precedence. 

"For  every  missionary  sent  to  us,"  continued  she, 
let  us  send  two  to  them ;  as  they  build  ships,  then 
double  their  output;  if  it  is  with  arms  they  would 
grab,  we  have  more  than  twice  their  number,  the 
largest  of  them,  and  discipline  to  spare.  Go  against 
them  my  child ;  possession  is  the  secret,  and  the  fittest 
shall  survive ;  it  is  God's  law,  and  woe  unto  him  who 
disobeys  —  I yeyasu  as  well ;  he  has  denied  me,  and  let 
come  what  may  your  mother  will  be  vindicated." 

Hideyori  had  just  arrived  at  earliest  manhood,  arfd 
little  did  he  care  about  anything  so  inane  and  decep 
tive  as  enforced  peace,  as  unequal  and  degrading  as 
discriminative  prosperity.  The  old  stock,  the  spirit 
of  an  age  that  did  not  lie,  of  men  unstooped  to  a 
progress  that  would  rob  Peter  to  pay  Paul,  a  civiliza 
tion  that  had  brought  the  West's  proudest  knocking 
at  their  doors,  made  them  the  coveted  of  all  conti- 
"nents,  these  aspirations  burned  at  his  finger  tips. 

A  mother  had  been  wronged :  what  more  could  have 
fired  a  lesser  zeal? 

Trained  by  a  man  whose  only  thought  was  of  his 
best  interests,  loved  dearly  by  one  who  had  given  him 
being,  applauded  by  a  multitude,  endowed  of  an 
authority,  heir  to  vast  treasures  and  supported  by  men 
of  valor  —  who  could  have  resisted  the  challenge  to 
honor  a  name? 

"Hideyori  respects  the  honorable  lyeyasu,  but  can 
not  concede  him  the  rank  or  authority  claimed,"  was 


248  YODOGIMA 

the   modest  though   significant  answer  returned,   by 
the  insulted  heir  to  an  exalted  taiko's  prestige. 

"I  am  pleased,"  promised  lyeyasu,  to  Kitagira, 
directly  his  own  best  trusted  intermediary;  "Hide- 
yori's  refusal  affords  me  the  opportunity  —  awaited 
all  these  barren  years." 


YODOGIMA  249 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

AND  with  bated  breath  those  captains,  now  scat 
tered  and  broken,  looked  on,  powerless  to  see 
and  helpless  to  act.  Yodogima  threw  open  her  doors  to 
the  patriots :  lyeyasu  closed  his  against  all  but  the 
wise,  and  no  such  cloud  had  risen  since  the  days  of 
Ashikaga. 

"My  daughter  shall  not  become  the  wife  of  this 
stripling,  Hideyori,"  declared  Esyo,  at  the  shogun's 
repeated  threat. 

"Yes  she  will,"  replied  he,  coldly  considering  the 
prospects,  from  another  standpoint  altogether. 

Esyo  stared  balefully  at  the  floor,  and  lyeyasu 
labored  watchfully  the  trend  of  her  reasoning;  he 
would  not  force  the  issue  at  Ozaka,  not  just  yet,  and  he 
knew  that  Yodogima  would  regard  her  sister's  feel 
ings.  A  cloud,  also,  had  risen  in  the  direction  of 
Jokoin.  The  banishment  of  the  Christians  had  roused 
her  ire,  particularly  as  Takiyama  had  been  ordered 
into  seclusion,  and  with  both  sisters,  his  own  sons, 
the  Christians,  and  Yodogima  against  him  the  small 
prospect  at  hand  of  squeezing  out  the  house  of  Hide- 
yoshi  would  be  forever  dissipated. 

"I  am  an  old  man,  Esyo,"  said  he,  after  a  short 
reflection,  "and  would  make  Hidetada  my  successor; 
suppose  I  do  it  now ;  resign,  and  persuade  his  appoint- 


250  YODOGIMA 

ment  instead,  as  shogun ;  would  it  be  asking  too  much 
in  that  event,  to  expect  your  reasonable  consent  to 
this  marriage?" 

Esyo  deliberated.  It  had  been  her  one  ambition 
from  the  day  she  landed  in  Hideyoshi's  camp,  a  victim 
if  a  meddler.  Would  she  quit  the  pleasure  of  frustrat 
ing  Yodogima,  as  she  believed,  to  gain  the  eminence 
so  long  and  craftily  sought?  The  bare  thought  of 
needing  to  decide  pained  her ;  she  would  have  snatched 
both,  the  gratification  and  the  honor,  but  this  lyeyasu, 
her  father-in-law,  the  shogun,  had  never  been  pressed 
to  extremes,  while  in  a  corner,  and  she  faltered. 

"Upon  one  condition,"  concluded  she,  presently. 

"That  seems  fair,"  chanced  he;  "what  is  it?" 

"That  you  kill  Hideyori." 

"Before,  or  after?"  inquired  the  shogun,  without 
so  much  as  smiling. 

"Presumably  you  may  think  it  as  easily  done," 
retorted  she,  the  pride  of  blood,  for  the  nonce,  assert 
ing  some  sort  of  peculiar  sway. 

The  Taira,  however,  had  measured  swords  with  the 
Minamoto  centuries  before  Esyo  inadvertently  con 
descended  to  vouchsafe  this  one  lonely  thrill,  and 
lyeyasu  perhaps,  therefore,  sooner  learned  to  attend 
the  reckoning  that  awaited  him,  in  this  his  final  effort 
to  dislodge  an  intrepid  foe.  Were  the  last  fight  to 
have  been  fought  with  a  man,  the  battle-scarred 
lyeyasu  had  buckled  on  his  armor,  and  gladly;  but 
look  as  he  might,  heed  whom  he  chose,  Yodogima, 


YODOGIMA  251 

a  love  of  his  and  an  offspring  of  theirs,  rose  up,  out 
of  the  smoldering  embers,  to  bid  and  to  challenge. 

"My  God!  I  cannot  face  her  —  oh,  yes;  I  can; 
she  is  nothing  to  me  —  curse  the  Christians!  I'll  slay 
them  —  " 

"Xo  you  won't,"  threatened  Jokoin,  in  her  way, 
having  entered  shortly  after  Esyo's  withdrawal,  in 
the  course  of  the  hearer's  meditation  ;  "they've  got 
powder  to  burn,  of  a  right  good  quality — just  in  from 
Hirado,  the  foreigners'  hold  out  —  and  a  pound  of  it 
is  worth  a  lot  of  valor — " 

"I'll  double  the  price;  tell  your  friends  that  lyeyasu 
is  in  the  market  for  powder." 

"And  a  wife,  as  well.  But  you  can't  have  Yodo- 
gima;  she's  given  you  the  mit." 

"Silence,  child ;  will  you  never  use  modesty ;  you 
are  in  the  presence  of  the  shogun?" 

"Oh,  I  wonder —  indeed  I'm  not ;  you  have  no  right 
to  be  shogun,  and  what  isn't  right  isn't;  there  now! 
I  shall  take  my  orders  from  Hideyori :  perhaps  marry 
him,  if  Takiyama,  Goto,  Sanada,  and  all  the  rest  worth 
while  —  " 

"You  have  a  husband." 

"So  have  you  a  wife;  and,  what  is  more,  my  hus 
band  is  willing;  and,  I  am  sure,  you  can't  say  as  much  ; 
and,  better  still.  Esyo  wants  her  daughter  to  marry 
Kyogoku  —  don't  you  think  you  could  use  him;  he 
is  as  good  as  forty  women,  at  that?" 

"Kyogoku!  Perhaps  —  he  may  know  more  about 
them  than  I  do,"  sighed  the  shogun,  hopelessly  en- 


252  YODOGIMA 

tangled,  undoing  the  riddle  she  had  unwound  for  his 
special  edification.  "I'll  let  you  off,  however;  though, 
I  ought  to  send  you  as  company  for  Takiyama." 

"Send  me  ?  I'd  like  to  see  you  do  it ;  banish  me,  if 
you  dare!" 

"I'll  harness  the  whole  of  you,  if  you  don't  mind 
your  p's  and  q's.  And  to  convince  you  that  I  mean 
just  what  I  say  I  am  this  very  day  going  to  send  the 
infant  daughter  of  Hidetada,  together  with  a  retinue, 
to  Ozaka.  No  doubt  you  yourself  will  have  advised 
Hideyori  —  whom  I  have  had  appointed  Nai-dai-jin 
—  in  advance  something  of  my  expectations  so  that 
he  may  be  prepared  to  take  my  granddaughter  as 
wife  upon  arrival.  I  shall,  out  of  consideration  for 
you,  forego  any  more  forceful  intelligence." 

"He  shall  do  nothing  of  the  kind,  is  not  a  nai-dai-jin, 
nor  will  Yodogima  harbor  your  spies — not  if  I  can 
prevent  it.  Neither  do  I  care  to  be  bored  with  your 
concern  for  me." 

"Oh,  ho  —  there  are  worse  lovers." 

"None  as  inane,  whom  I  know." 

"Tut,  tut  —  louder  and  more  of  it." 

"You  haven't  begun  to  hear  from  me." 

"No?" 

"N-o-o-?  — I'm  off." 

The  shogun  had  not  misjudged  Jokoin,  in  the  least, 
yet  did  not  wish  at  all  to  enforce  any  kind  of  restraint. 
Unable  to  fathom  Esyo,  there  was  danger  of  estrang 
ing  Hidetada  himself  —  for  the  wife  had  quite  dom 
inated  and  held  him  verily  subject  to  her  own  stronger 


YODOGIMA  253 

wjll  —  while  Hideyasu,  not  yet  wholly  without  some 
influence,  still  refused  to  become  entirely  reconciled 
to  his  naturally  unexpected  displacement.  There 
were,  also,  rumors  around  that  certain  of  the  captains 
and  daimyos  who  had  sided  with  him  as  against  Ishida 
were  growing  nervous  about  his  attitude  toward  the 
taiko's  heir.  Whether  it  were  because  of  their  own  jeal 
ousies,  or  due  to  Yodogima's  influence,  he  could  not 
satisfactorily  determine,  as  indited;  he  had  rewarded 
them  all,  liberally,  for  their  services,  if  deserving,  while 
the  princess  had  estranged  some  by  her  friendliness 
to  Harunaga;  whatever  the  case  the  breach  must  be 
held  over  till  his  forces  had  been  raised  and  insured 
to  the  likelihood  of  Yodogima's.  His  contention 
about  the  Christians  had  enthused  the  populace,  but 
open  hostilities  against  Hideyori,  so  soon  after,  would 
certainly  lose  him  the  advantage  at  first  gained. 

Dilplomacy  were  his  most  available  instrument,  just 
then,  however  drastic  the  conclusive  threshing. 

"Are  you  certain  about  this  boy,  Hideyori's  incapa 
city,  Kitagira?"  inquired  he  —  soon  after  Jokoin  had 
left  —  doubtfully.  "You  have  persistently  told  me 
that  he  were  no  match  for  Hidetada ;  I  should  like  to 
know,  of  my  own  knowledge ;  cannot  you  arrange  a 
meeting?" 

"One  thing  at  a  time,  my  lord ;  if  he  marry  your 
granddaughter,  what  better  proof  need  anyone?" 

"Just  so.  Therefore  see  you  that  the  marriage  take 
place." 

Kitagira   made   no   answer,  but   drawing  his   own 


254  YODOGIMA 

conclusions,  from  that  last  answer,  as  to  the  shogun's 
own  capableness,  trudged  off  toward  Ozaka,  with  the 
intentionally  betrothed  in  his  arms,  fully  decided  upon 
escaping  to  his  own  miserably  allotted  fief,  should  he 
fail  of  the  mission  imposed. 

At  Ozaka  a  storm  of  protest  went  up  from  all  but 
Yodogima.  She  had  threatened  something  worse. 
Esyo  arriving  first,  Jokoin  after,  and  the  trundled 
granddaughter  lastly,  everybody  had  had  ample  occa 
sion  to  hit  upon  something  —  save  alone  lyeyasu; 
who  by  remaining  at  home  surveyed  better  the  feel 
ings  engendered  with  the  ruse. 

"Take  the  brat  away,"  shouted  Kyogoku,  still  vigi 
lant  at  the  gate. 

"No,"  commanded  Yodogima;  "let  the  mother  de 
cide  ;  she  is  present,  and  of  right  should  elect  a  daugh 
ter's  husband." 

"I  can  save  you  trouble,"  suggested  Hideyori ;  re 
luctantly,  however,  for  the  baby  looked  pretty;  "I  am 
already  engaged  —  " 

"To  Jokoin,"  interposed  Harunaga;  "I  have  the 
mikado's  permission." 

A  storm  of  applause  followed  upon  the  one  side, 
occasioning  as  violent  denunciation  from  the  other. 
No  one  except  the  shogun  had  for  a  long  time  so 
much  as  thought  of  profaning  the  precincts  of  celestial 
Kyoto,  let  alone  essaying  to  voice  a  message  thus 
sacredly  emanating. 

"Who  is  this  Harunaga?"  demanded  Fukushima, 
most  cruel  and  savage,  an  old  captain  of  the  guard 


YODOGIMA  255 

and  relative  to  Oyea,  but  not  averse  to  Christian  toler 
ance.  "What  right  has  he  to  put  words  into  the  mouth 
of  a  taiko's  son?" 

Kuroda,  still  older,  and  more  devoted  to  the  sym 
pathies  of  Yodogima,  grumbled  accordance. 

Esyo  held  her  tongue;  she  wanted  her  daughter  — 
strange  to  believe,  except  as  she  knew  —  married  to 
Kyogoku,  and  deemed  it  best  not  to  interfere. 

"Oh,  I  guess,  you  are  not  so  much,  Mr.  Fukushima ; 
we  have  Sanada,  Goto,  and  a  few  more  equally  as 
reliable;  if  you  want  to  rebel,  I  think  we  shall  be  able 
to  make  out;  what  say  you,  Esyo?"  put  in  Jokoin, 
boastfully. 

"I  give  my  daughter  to  Kyogoku." 

"What?  He  is  married,"  threatened  Kitagira,  ner 
vously. 

"He  can  divorce  me,"  replied  Jokoin,  concernedly. 

"Without  authority?"  inquired  Kyogoku,  gasping 
at  some  vain  law  instead  of  a  better  wit. 

"I  have  it,  and  shall  use  it,"  declared  Hideyori. 

"You  have  not  been  appointed,  are  not  an  official," 
reasoned  Fukushima. 

"Yes,  he  has;  he  is  nai-dai-jin;  lyeyasu  just  now 
told  me  so,  and  I  am  sure  an  Interior  Great  Minister 
can  do  anything  he  likes,"  threatened  Jokoin,  more 
confident  than  discreet. 

They  all  ran  about  with  glee,  those  of  the  Christians 
present ;  that  one  so  near  conversion,  as  Hideyori,  had 
been  raised  to  some  exalted  position  were  enough  to 
enthuse  them;  but  Yodogima  meditated;  the  con- 


256  YODOGIMA 

fusion  thereat  had  left  her  as  doubtful  as  lyeyasu 
had  been  perplexed  with  Jokoin's  entanglement.  Yet 
she  would  not  restrain  Hideyori  in  his  exultation  from 
irretrievably  committing  himself  by  exercising  only 
once  the  authority;  she  wanted  to  accommodate  her 
sisters,  especially  Esyo,  and  perhaps  Jokoin  —  possi 
bly  herself  —  so  the  power  was  invoked. 

lyeyasu  laughed  when  informed  of  the  circum 
stance,  and  sending  for  Jokoin,  told  her  that  now  he 
should  encounter  little  discouragement  in  winning  her 
over. 

''I  want  you  to  be  my  wife,  Jokoin,"  said  he,  with 
out  a  wrinkle  or  a  quaver;  you  are  the  last  of  the 
family,  and  are  single  again ;  what  say  you  to  feasting 
Hideyori :  don't  you  think  he  might  be  gotten  rid  of  in 
some  such  way?" 

Jokoin's  eyes  opened  wide.  The  sister  to  Yodogima 
had  never  heard  that  one's  former  lover  talk  in  that 
way  before.  It  seemed  impossible  that  the  great  lye 
yasu,  an  unsuspected  character,  if  self-inflicted  shogun, 
a  lifelong  aspirant  to  her  sister's  hand,  should  so  be 
little  himself  as  to  banter  respect  howevermuch  else. 

"I  shall  speak  with  Yodogima ;  you  overwhelm  me," 
replied  Jokoin,  dumfounded  at  her  own  sensibility. 

"Please  do :  tell  her  that  I  wish  to  marry  you ;  that 
I  would  spread  a  befitting  feast ;  that  I  beseech  a  fool 
to  attend;  that  Hideyori  may  judge  of  what  he  has 
missed;  that  your  extravagance  would  swamp  a 
younger  man  —  all  this,  and  more :  say  that  Esyo,  her 


YODOGIMA  257 

sister,  wants  to  kill  Hideyori,  and  that  I  know  of  no 
better  means  of  encompassing  that  event." 

Jokoin  hurried  away,  fully  determined  never  to  re 
turn  ;  the  ghost  of  Hideyori  already  betokened  a  reality 
at  every  turn  in  the  road,  and  from  the  moorland  hard 
by  arose  the  whisperings  and  the  wailings  of  a  repen 
tant  sister  —  Esyo's  voice  rang  ominously  in  her  ears. 

Yodogima,  contrary  to  expectations,  brightened  at 
the  thought  of  sending  Hideyori  into  the  enemy's 
camp.  He  had  shown  himself  the  man  to  foil  lye- 
yasu's  contemplated  espoinage  at  its  inception :  what 
greater  capacity  might  be  discovered  if  brought  face 
to  face  with  a  man  whose  extremity  had  induced  so 
flagrant  a  mouthing. 

"Tell  lyeyasu  that  Hideyori  shall  attend  with  pleas 
ure,  not  his  marriage  revel,  but  more  the  witless  un 
making  of  as  pampered  a  braggadocio  as  an  humbler 
memory  of  Hideyoshi  and  Xobunaga  combined  might 
have  fairly  conduced.  Tell  him  that  he  would  eat  the 
rice-cake  these  two  worthies  made;  but  in  the  doing 
he  shall  choke  for  lack  of  throat.  Let  him  know  that 
Yodogima  lives,  and  so  long  as  there  is  a  Taira  alive 
justice  shall  be  done:  no  man's  religion  is  to  be  the 
occasion  of  his  persecution,  my  sisters  may  do  as  their 
God  tells  them  to  do,  and  Hideyori  must  reign." 

"I  couldn't  remember  to  say  all  that,  at  once,  and  I 
had  rather  remain  here,"  sighed  Jokoin,  her  great 
opened-up  eyes  dancing  at  the  prospect. 

Sitting  there  unconscious  of  another  obligation, 
Yodogima  considered  also  her  resources.  Though  re- 


258  YODOGIMA 

membering  well  the  countenance  of  Kuroda,  and  Fu- 
kushima's  measured  words,  on  that  memorable  morn 
ing,  she  could  but  believe  them  true  to  their  trust. 
To  her  way  of  thinking,  no  more  probable  course  had 
conformed  to  an  aim  attainable;  the  life  she  lived 
breathed,  at  every  stride,  of  action,  invoilable;  their 
traditions  known  so  well,  Buddha's  precepts,  and 
Christ's  faith  all  cried  in  her  ears,  "do,"  "do,"  "do" ; 
a  constant  struggle  had  made  her  what  she  was  — 
the  face  of  Shin  Hachiman  (statue  of  Hideyoshi,  the 
new  War  God)  looked  down  from  its  pedestal  at 
Kyoto,  imploring  her  to  stay  the  hand  of  lyeyasu: 
how  becomingly  could  a  faithful  wife,  and  a  mother, 
have  concluded  otherwise? 

"Then  Hideyori  may  pronounce  it,  at  the  banquet 
table;  he  is  my  son,  and  the  worthy  mouthpiece  of  a 
nobler  purpose  than  feasting." 


YODOGIMA  259 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

THEY  had  gathered  in  sumptuous  splendor,  round 
the  laden  trays,  with  lyeyasu  in  place  and 
Hideyori  at  his  left,  as  became  an  honored  guest. 
Kitagira  was  there,  too;  he  had  been  discovered  hid 
ing  at  Ibaraki,  and  in  consideration  of  Hideyori's  pres 
ence  was  allowed  or  compelled  to  witness  the  shogun's 
placing  of  his  own  valuation. 

With  being  told  that  Hideyori  had  not  the  intelli 
gence  to  cope  with  Hidetada,  and  deciding  that  only 
Yodogima  stood  between  himself  and  ultimate  su 
premacy,  lyeyasu  estimated  carefully  the  former,  and 
planned  the  necessity  of  immediate  action  against  the 
latter. 

He  had  grown  old  in  the  harness,  would  thence 
witness  a  widening  of  the  channel :  the  prop  that  he 
had  visioned  must  inure  to  the  swift,  for  Hideyori 
justified  a  mother's  confidence. 

The  lotus  studding  the  ponds  below  lagged  lazily  in 
the  breeze  that  fanned  them  off  the  coast  at  Ozaka. 
Softened  evidences  of  his  good  taste  toned  and  inspired 
every  nook  and  cranny  of  those  immaculate  halls  and 
safely  trodden  grounds,  but  steel  had  marked  each  turn 
toward  their  advance.  Must  steel  again  assert  supe 
riority?  \Yould  he  die  fighting?  Why  should  man 
at  first  despise,  then  relish,  the  olive?  In  his  younger 
days  lyeyasu,  too,  had  balked  at  culture,  but  with  rip- 


2<5o  YODOGIMA 

ened  years  it  had  become  a  slogan,  compelling,  all- 
forceful,  and  inevitable. 

"I'll  crush  him,  untutored  man,  vain  infant,  inspired 
mongrel ;  endowed  with  better  wit  than  I,  he  lacks  only 
the  wisdom  —  but  his  mother!  Oh,  well;  she  might 
as  well  be  Christian,  and  dangle  her  bells  at  church ; 
the  taiko^s  jingle  shall  be  split,  and  men  can  very  well 
spare  their  better  halves,  in  the  pursuit  of  a  less 
obstreperous  divertisement  — • 

"Hideyori,  my  lad,  what  do  you  think  of  women?" 

"They  are  the  pendulum  in  a  clock." 

"Pouff!  I'll  make  cogs  and  spindles  of  them.  Kita- 
gira,  show  this  young  man  thence  he  came,  and  send 
Hidetada  hither;  I  am  satisfied;  either  of  you  have 
more  brains  than  pluck;  the  sword  is  master,  and  not 
a  balancer.  Hence ;  and  let  me  strike  while  the 
blood  yet  runs  hot;  I  have  neither  time  to  wait  nor 
patience  to  woe  a  goddess  that  isn't  mine ;  Ozaka  must 
fall." 

"I  thank  you  for  the  entertainment,  also  for  losing 
your  head,  horonable  host,"  vouchsafed  Hideyori,  in 
parting;  "the  former,  because  it  is  meet  to  respect 
gray  hairs :  the  latter,  that  honest  men  may  make  due 
denfense.  You  need  not  spare  Kitagira,  or  his  kind, 
for  escort ;  a  newer  generation  makes  it  possible  for 
me  to  leave  here,  not  as  you  once  entered  there  —  in 
a  woman's  palanquin  —  but  as  the  defender  of  •  my 
own  fortune,  and  the  builder  of  a  nation's  hope  —  both 
the  usefulness  and  the  sacredness  of  mothers :  no  less 
their  motherhood," 


YODOGIMA  261 

Hideyori  withdrew,  the  more  a  man,  if  such  had 
been  his  failing.  His  elder  at  arms  and  with  diplomacy, 
had  thrown  to  the  winds  all  the  finer  notions  that  the 
younger  had  been  taught  about  man's  province  and 
woman's  part.  Look  as  he  would  into  the  fading 
realities  of  a  living  yesterday,  adjure  from  scenes 
imagined  against  the  dawning  to-morrow  as  he  did, 
the  one  thought  that  man  is  a  free  agent  and  behold 
ing  only  to  the  God  that  lives  within  drove  him  toward 
his  destiny  like  the  thundering  waters  of  a  mighty 
gorge  leap  and  laugh  their  way  to  the  calm  and  peace 
always  lying  somewhere  in  the  untimed,  but  certain 
beyond.  And  as  he  tramped  along,  looking  to  the  right 
and  to  the  left,  there  appeared  myriads  of  living  atoms 
answering  to  the  same  call  that  so  eagerly  gladdened 
his  step,  and  when  the  sun  burst  through,  upon  these, 
their  faces  turned  heavenward  —  only  the  dead  and 
unborn  failed  a  natural  appeal,  Amaterasu  had  written 
Tyeyasu  down,  and  the  younger  man  hastened  to  accept 
the  responsibility. 

"Woman  a  slave  to  man,  men  the  creature  of  state, 
and  the  state  no  better  than  a  mechanism?  Hearken 
not  the  vulture,  but  to  arms :  Christ  died  upon  the 
cross ;  let  these  hills  and  valleys  grow  green  in  the 
blood  of  Hideyori ;  a  mother's  will  and  not  a  father's 
way  is  the  final  test  of  a  beginningless  God." 

Harunaga  had  taught  him  better  than  Yodogima 
believed ;  there  lay  behind  his  spirit  an  abiding  dis 
taste  for  anything  and  everything  smacking  of  un 
earned  felicity  ;  the  getting  of  something  by  sufferance 


262  YODOGIMA 

were  a  crime ;  profit  at  the  expense  of  some  other 
man's  effort  betokened  inanity;  the  trading  of  wares 
or  of  benefits  lay  beneath  him;  commercialism  was 
robbery,  and  diplomacy  worse;  deception  belonged  to 
the  devil,  and  God  had  always  won,  must  always  win. 

The  bribe,  therefore,  offered  to  him,  by  lyeyasu, 
the  master  fibber,  the  safe,  sane,  and  sound  merchant 
of  goods  and  other  things,  had  no  effect  upon  the 
high-born,  reenergized,  and  rightly  tutored  Hideyori. 
The  sop  thrown  out  by  the  one  to  the  other,  of  accept 
ing  new  territories  in  exchange  for  real  manhood  — 
as  in  the  case  of  lyeyasu,  of  Hideyoshi,  thence  past  — 
fell  upon  deaf  ears ;  as  had  the  attempt  to  seduce  Yo- 
dogima,  his  mother,  with  privileges  of  building  temples, 
casting  bells,  and  otherwise  demeaning  herself  accord 
ing  to  the  predetermined  notions  of  the  man  who  would 
use  her  for  a  plaything. 

"I  cannot  express  my  love  for  you,"  promised  she, 
to  her  idol,  upon  his  return  and  the  departure  of 
their  two  hostages,  held  as  a  guarantee;  "you  con 
vince  me  that  there  is  something  better  in  man  than 
the  greed  of  instinct.  Possession  is  the  ultimate  goal, 
but  of  the  heart  and  not  the  belly  —  hence  harakari  is 
a  virtue  and  no  man  would  despoil  the  fountain-head. 
But,  my  son,  have  you  considered  well  the  means?" 

" Yes,  mother  —  truth  is  invincible." 

"Yet  it,  like  all  nature,  is  subject  to  hindrances;  the 
waters  tumbling  down  their  natural  courses  are  oft- 
times  retarded  with  log-jams,  the  banks  break,  and  the 
producing  land  is  flooded." 


YODOGIMA  263 

"Only  for  the  inevitable  good  of  their  enforced 
fertilization." 

"Are  you  sure  that  we,  in  our  day,  do  not  confront 
the  immediate  necessity  of  such  replenishment?  Are 
the  rice-fields  abundant,  the  dikes  strong,  and  the 
waters  free?" 

"Let  me  answer  with  a  question :  if  the  fields  are 
hungry,  will  denial,  deception,  or  putting  off,  stay  the 
hand  of  reckoning?  Is  it  making  history  to  shoulder 
posterity  with  the  evil  of  to-day's  cowardice?  Is  it 
manly?  Is  it  godlike?  If  so,  then  we,  too,  can  make 
shift  honorably.  If  not,  I  would  crush  the  hydra- 
headed  monster  in  his  den.  Let  him  not,  through  our 
stupidity,  carelessness,  or  cursedness,  fasten  his  ten 
tacles  upon  the  unborn  —  most  compelling  of  God's 
previsioning  —  sons  and  daughters  in  whom  alone  we 
shall  survive  hell  and  attain  heaven." 

Yodogima  bowed  in  her  son's  presence ;  she  could 
not  speak  for  the  pride  arising  out  of  a  greater  senti 
ment  ;  words  would  have  voiced  the  colder  side  of 
life ;  attributes  only  of  the  soul  moved  her  to  make 
some  recognition  of  this  fancied,  hi»ped-fnr.  and  willed 
higher  reach.  All  the  felicities  of  a  life  earnestly  lived 
seemed  answered  in  that  one  likened  expression. 
Then  why  should  he  have  burdened  her  with  further 
obligation?  What  lacked  she  yet  of  tin  j^reat  circle 
that  encompasses  creation? 

"Do  not  bow,  my  mother,"  requested  he,  his  voice 
modulated  as  if  to  penetrate  deeper  than  heart :  "it 
is  I  who  should  kneel ;  maternity  is  the  keynote  of 


264  YODOGIMA 

existence,  and  when  it  has  thought  to  command,  and 
not  obey,  men  shall  have  reached  indeed  the  thres 
hold  of  greatness.  Arise,  that  I  may  do  what  in  the 
future  men  shall  learn  of  necessity." 

"Must  I,  too,  do  service?" 

"Yes ;  it  is  ordained  of  equality." 

''Then  I'll  do  it,  and  see  you,  each,  that  his  spear 
is  in  order,  for  the  battle  shall  be  to  the  quick." 

Before  Hideyori  could  at  all  respond;  Jokoin 
snatched  up  the  bugle,  and  riming  to  the  rampart's 
edge,  blew  a  blast  that  brought  the  loyal  speeding; 
no  live  man  would  fail  a  summons  as  vital :  the  one 
call  that  has  lifted  antiquity's  veil,  makes  the  day 
worth  its  enduring,  and  rouses  better  expectations  of 
the  future  :  Sanada  shouted  : 

"Let  me  fight;  the  princess  forsees,  and  progres 
sion  is  her  right,"  and  Goto,  Ono,  the  young  and  the 
vigorous,  those  patriots  and  their  martyrs,  Christian 
or  Pagan,  rallied  to  the  defense  of  liberty. 

Only  Kuroda,  Fukushima,  and  the  hirelings  of 
content,  their  kind,  refused  accession  to  Yodogima's 
stand. 

"When  you  are  as  old  as  we,  the  wells  of  enthusiasm 
shall  have  dried,"  whined  they,  walking  out  at  the 
gate  —  thrown  open  by  Kyogoku,  the  instrument  of 
Esyo  —  regretting  only  that  their  convenience  and 
Yodogima's  indiscretion  made  it  more  delectable  for 
them  to  break  an  uncrossed  faith  than  perform  a 
sworn  duty. 

They  walked  out,  and  others  came  in,  in  legion. 


YODOGIMA  265 

The  Christians  responded,  to  a  man,  and  no  such 
stalwart  soldiery  had  before  gathered  —  in  any  cause. 
The  edict  against  these  Christians,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  attempt  upon  Hideyori,  on  the  other,  had  brought 
to  Yodogima's  support  a  force  and  a  promise  that 
jarred  for  once  the  understanding  of  lycyasu.  Policy 
had  been  his  stronghold,  from  the  first;  the  one  battle 
risked  and  fought,  at  Sekigahara,  had  been  forced  and 
won  at  the  instance  of  Yodogima,  and  the  reaper  of  its 
booty  knew  it,  had  extended  his  hand  as  recompense, 
and  in  the  frenzy  of  madness  brought  about  an  un- 
thought  catastrophe,  seemingly  as  needless  as 
destructive. 

Only  the  pinched  of  face  and  sycophant  at  heart 
surrounded  him  now ;  men  waxing  corpulent,  and 
others  anxious  to  coddle  them ;  the  philosopher  be 
cause  he  could  afford  to  be  one;  possessors  of  en 
dowed  chairs  at  colleges,  the  gifts  of  one  another; 
builders  of  libraries,  in  the  hope  of  perpetuating 
doubtful  memories ;  merchant  princes,  and  financial 
jugglers,  these  and  their  like,  who  lap  for  favors, 
jostled  each  other  in  the  crying  of  peace  —  that  their 
interests  might  not  be  disturbed. 

lyeyasu  looked  them  over. 

"And  this  is  what  Hideyoshi's  democracy  really 
developed !  A  war,  and  all  the  men  at  the  enemy's 
beck  and  call.  Had  I  Yodogima's  strength  I'd  close 
these  doors  —  but  I  can;  I'll  make  the  barons  defend 
their  own  vested  interests.  Diplomacy  shall  yet  avail 
the  state,"  resolved  he,  cold  and  set. 


266  YODOGIMA 

"Esyo?" 

"What  is  it,"  demanded  she. 

"Tell  Yodogima  that  lyeyasu  would  like  to  call,  in 
conference,  at  her  pleasure.  Will  you  do  me  the 
kindness  ?" 

"Yes,  honorable  father-in-law.    When,  please  ?" 

"Forthwith,  my  good  Esyo." 

Esyo  went,  but  delivered  instead  an  ultimatum. 

"I  came  to  thank  you  for  the  loan  of  Kyogoku, 
Yodogima,"  said  she,  artfully. 

"But  he  played  me  a  trick?" 

"Did  you  expect  more?" 

"No ;  not  of  him ;  but  of  you." 

"And  you  shall  not  be  disappointed ;  you  may  keep 
the  infant ;  women  are  cheap,  and  shoguns  dear  —  do 
you  observe  the  pattern,  of  my  gown,  Yodogima?  I 
trust  I  wear  it,  becomingly,  you  perceive?" 

"Yes,  Esyo ;  I  understand,  now.  It  has  taken  me  a 
long  time  to  believe  a  sister  could  play  another  false 
—  you  have  my  protection  beyond  the  lines,  and  my 
best  wishes  always :  tell  your  father-in-law  that  T 
accept  his  challenge,  and  that  war  alone  can  deter 
mine  the  issue." 

Esyo  could  not  await  her  own  return,  so  couriers 
were  advanced  with  the  intelligence.  Upon  her 
arrival,  much  excitement  but  little  enthusiasm  lin 
gered  at  Fushima.  Kuroda,  Fukushima,  and  others 
of  the  daimyos  were  there  in  council  with  lyeyasu  — 
the  new  shogun,  Hidetada,  had  already  prepared  to 
march. 


YODOGIMA  267 

"It  is  your  fault,  Kuroda,  and  Fukushima,  and  you 
my  spineless  schemers,  that  hostilities  have  begun, 
and  —  " 

"Cannot  their  leaders  be  bought?" 

"You  shall  have  to  fight,  or  surrender  to  the  Chris 
tians ;  Yodogima  is  not  purchasable." 

Levies  were  hastened  forward,  and  the  treasures 
brought  in;  lyeyasu  had  succeeded,  and  greed  for 
once  stood  compelled  to  surrender  its  power  unto 
determined  men,  or  subject  themselves  to  the  leader 
ship  of  a  man  who  hated  no  less  the  influence  of 
plethoratic  wealth  upon  state  than  dreaded  the  conse 
quences  of  a  partial  democracy  among  men.  The 
Christians  had  become  the  instrument ;  and  diplomacy 
proved  the  means  with  which  lyeyasu  divided  the 
nation  and  equipped  himself  to  enforce  centralization. 

Yodogima  had  builded  upon  broader  lines :  her  star 
seemed  the  brighter. 


268  YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  XXX 

WAR  had  been  declared,  the  decisive  battle  faced 
them,  and  neither  side  underestimated  the 
other's  strength  nor  neglected  his  own  best  pos 
sible  recourse.  Yodogima  and  lyeyasu,  two  lovers 
at  heart,  loomed  the  more  formidable  as  enemies, 
measuring  each  other  in  the  luminous  cauldron  of  a 
perfect  understanding,  and  did  not  their  souls  unite  in 
the  attainment  of  a  common,  supreme,  an  overwhelm 
ing  obligation  —  the  means  as  widely  divergent  as  the 
uplift  had  been  ideal  —  courage  had  failed  either,  and 
humanity  must  have  lost  a  most  ardently  conceived,  if 
untimely  wrought,  exemplification. 

At  her  left,  the  sun  rose  clear  and  commanding, 
behind  the  hills  of  Nara,  where  the  sages  had  lived 
and  died  unto  the  days  of  myth,  perhaps  when  Jimmu 
landed  a  wanderer  from  burdens  escaped,  or  as  de 
scended  of  the  gods  in  heaven.  Memories  of  these 
things  inspired  Yodogima.  The  sacredness  of  its  soil 
compelled  thoughts  farther  away  than  of  to-day. 

A  thousand  temples  commemorated  events  that 
would  not  yield  to  the  onrush  of  ambition  or  the  more 
potent  realities  of  an  every-day  humdrum;  bonzes 
gray  and  firm  chanted  music  both  sacred  and  dear 
behind  those  walls  scattered  here  and  there  through 
out  the  rugged  fastness  to  and  beyond  this  Nara,  the 
seat  of  the  best  that  God,  in  his  fairness,  had  inspired ; 


YODOGiAJA  269 

birds  soared  statelier  here,  the  odor  of  flowers  smelled 
more  authentic,  and  the  stones  stubborn  puzzled  their 
reading;  no  man  ventured  into  these  hallowed  mys 
teries  without  a  deeper  sense  of  the  responsibilities 
that  fade  and  shadow  as  we  trudge  or  falter  the  step 
ping  liege  of  escaping  time,  and  out  of  its  depths  there 
arose  a  force  as  restraining. 

Over  to  the  westward,  the  passions  and  the  penalties 
crowded  hard  and  fast  those  of  realistic  now;  not  a 
man  of  them  spared  the  energy  of  a  thought  or  vyended 
the  loss  of  a  step  toward  that  past  and  gone,  or  meas 
ured  in  other  than  dollars  and  cents  the  future  and 
its  dependence,  as  against  an  always  tardy,  yet  fast- 
running  present;  shop  or  hovel,  land  and  water,  man 
or  beast,  the  cultured  and  the  uncultured,  jammed 
and  fretted  in  one  continuous  roar  commercial.  What 
compensations,  for  such  turmoil !  A  million  souls 
dwarfed  into  no  higher  recompense  than  thirst  to 
own,  hunger  to  appease,  and  only  death  to  relieve  it 
all.  No  glad  messages  trumpeted  their  tired  and  aim 
less  steps,  serving  or  served,  the  plethoric  rich  and 
the  indigent  poor,  the  hopeful  or  the  despairing  alike 
groped,  ran,  or  loafed  their  allotted  space  in  its  empty, 
beggarly  passing. 

Yodogima  prayed  for  these;  they  lay  sadly  beyond 
any  more  helpful,  if  grateful,  equivalent. 

But  to  the  front,  looking  southward,  broad  vistas 
of  undulated  expanse  led  on,  over  the  rice  fields  and 
into  areas  bordered  with  the  blue  of  ocean's  tireless, 
unpolluted  energies.  At  her  back  reared  mighty  walls 


270  YODOGIMA 

and  sank  deeper'  the  moats  —  no  intruder  might  strike 
there ;  but  here,  in  the  foreground,  upon  unsullied  soil, 
underneath  her  own  surveillance,  in  the  very  bosom 
of  their  stronghold,  the  battle  must  be  fought. 

The  hosts  were  already  gathering :  Sanada  led  them ; 
he  had  tasted  of  the  blood  sacrificial ;  fought  his  way 
to  Uyecla,  in  the  teeth  of  Hideyasu's  avenging;  his 
father  gave  him  the  choice,  of  following  lyeyasu  or 
donning  the  new :  in  him,  young  and  active,  there  had 
risen  fresher  desires,  fervid,  if  inconsiderate. 

"Let  us  fight,"  he  had  said,  replying  to  Jokoin's 
trumpeting,  and  in  view  of  these  energies  had  been 
given  command,  under  Hideyori,  the  chief,  coun 
selled  by  Harunaga,  more  matured  than  either,  directed 
by  Yodogima,  their  princess  —  trusted,  if  not  wor 
shipped. 

Were  she  then,  to  them,  Christian  or  Pagan,  as 
much  as  goddess;  or  should  the  future,  yet,  reveal 
some  deeper  hidden  truth? 

"It  is  good  to  behold  confidences  as  liberally  be 
stowed,"  vowed  Yodogima,  to  Jokoin,  who  came  up 
to  share,  in  her  way,  the  picture  unfolding,  "albeit, 
the  responsibility ;  Hideyori  can  well  acquit  himself, 
but  these  Christians  —  so  wrought  in  faith,  hopeful, 
and  charitable:  withal  unknowing,  helpless,  and  con 
fiding.  I  must  not  lose  this  contest ;  they  are  no  match 
for  the  colder  ethics  of  Orientalism:  yet  were  not 
placed  here  to  go  down  martyrs,  or  to  eke  out  material 
istically  —  their  religion  is  not  at  fault  so  much,  as  it 


\  (  )l)OC,hMA  271 

is   inadequate,   undeveloped,   short  of    iinality.     The 
circle  is  incomplete." 

"Xor  shall  we  fail,  though  defeated,"  chimed  in  the 
good  sister;  there  are  more  ways  than  one,  to  skin  a 
cat,  and  we'll  dodge,  as  sure  as  whipped.  You  can 
bet  on  Christ,  every  time;  he's  a  winner,  and  the  world 
has  just  got  to  kowtow." 

"\Yhat  makes  you  talk  that  way,  Jokoin?  One 
would  think  the  Old  Nick  himself  had  the  better  hold 
—  and  I  am  sure  you  were  not  as  you  are  till  some 
thing  made  you  so:  was  it  Christianity?" 

"How  do  I  know?  I  just  feel  that  way,  and  what's 
the  use  of  bothering  ?  Why  ask  ?  Just  go  in,  to  win  ; 
that's  the  game,  to  lose  —  well,  I  won't  say  what  it's 
like,  but  the  name  spells  horrors !" 

"And  if  I  should  fail?" 

"You  can't  —  not  as  long  as  I  am  left;  I'd  eat  fire, 
for  you;  that  is  my  religion." 

"Thank  you,  sister;  but  —  well,  I  was  going  to  say, 
that  that  sounds  more  like  the  Taira.  I  wonder  if  the 
Coming  could  have  had  any  connection  —  do  you  see 
those  plains,  Jokoin?  There  is  a  hill,  near  the  center: 
is  there  a  Cross  there;  I  cannot  quite  make  out:  your 
Vision  may  be  stronger  than  mine?" 

"I  couldn't  see  half  so  far;  besides,  I'd  miss  the 
fun  of  going,  if  I  did;  there's  somebody  there,  now; 
it's  Hideyori ;  I'm  off ;  so  long." 

Yodogima,  however  serious  or  busied,  could  not 
resist  the  infection,  and  with  Jokoin's  bounding  down 


272  YODOGIMA 

the  slope  for  the  time  being  lost  control,  as  it  were, 
of  herself. 

"What  buoyancy,"  mused  she;  "if  the  world  could 
imbibe  the  half  of  hers,  there  wouldn't  be  anything 
but  mock  —  yes,  make-believe  —  fighting  done.  And 
then  —  oh;  it  is  too  absurd;  man  is  not  a  laughing 
stock.  Nero  may  have  grimaced  his  way  into  Rome, 
but  its  hills  shall  drench  still  yet  with  the  tears  he 
shed." 

And  back  at  Fushima,  far  removed  from  Ozaka, 
and  its  elemental  forces,  at  work  upon  plans  and  de 
fences,  as  indefatigable  as  laudable,  a  more  conscience 
less,  less  movable  coterie  of  individuals,  the  shapen- 
ing  parts  to  a  masterful  piece  of  mechanism,  their 
features  wan  and  purses  opened,  the  whip-lash  laid 
or  tackles  baited  —  these,  barons  by  profession  and 
soldiers  of  compulsion,  haters  in  fact,  yet  supporters 
for  safety  —  they,  under  extremes,  busied  their  bodies 
with  replenshing  the  commissary  and  recruiting  the 
ranks  of  an,  army  as  different  in  character  as  it  were 
essential  to  habit. 

No  thought  of  daringness  conserved  the  interests  of 
these  shouters  for  peace,  at  any  price  save  its  legiti 
mate  cost.  Every  reformer  in  their  eyes  became  at 
once  a  disturber;  patriotism  were  charlatanism,  and 
the  knowing  ones  cried  down  as  demagogues;  they 
shouted  plenty  and  practiced  penuriousness,  gorged 
themselves  and  bade  others  be  satisfied  with  the  crums 
—  or  their  lot. 

Such  were  the  motley  hordes  gathered  to  render 


YODOGIMA  273 

lyeyasu  master  —  and  he  had  learned  a  lesson,  knew 
the  kind  of  discipline  these  fellows  relished,  and  gave 
them  their  due  —  hunger.  To  feed,  then,  or  to  keep, 
as  well,  these  hirelings,  or  their  hirers,  drilled  and 
coddled,  marched  or  trudged  upon  Ozaka. 

"Poor  humans ;  I  pity  you,"  sighed  Yodogima ;  lye 
yasu  dragged  after,  as  uncertain  as  dogged. 


274  YODOGIMA 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

LONG  lines  of  coerced,  machine-made,  and  let-live 
mortals  wended  the  broadening  valleys  leading 
from  the  seat  of  empire,  Kyoto's  mouldering  gate, 
Fushima,  toward  the  walled-in  adjuster,  Ozaka,  under 
whose  shelter  there  throbbed  in  every  archer  and  each 
spearman  the  impulse  that  leads  to  liberty. 

A  mighty  task  confronted  these  invaders,  the  merci- 
nary  half  of  a  nation.  Obedience  to  an  over-mastery 
had  become  their  watchword;  through  long  ages  the 
spark  that  enlightens  had  been  drubbed  and  coaled 
into  nothing  more  than  the  droll  leaden  heat  of  an 
improvident  toll,  and  the  hills  on  either  side  echoed 
from  one  to  the  other  only  such  monotonous  rhythm 
as  dulled  or  tinkled  in  the  ears  of  baser  content  or 
lulled  to  sleep  any  instinct  born  of  more  than  earth's 
paid  transient  competence. 

"Law  and  order  is  the  order  and  the  law,"  growled 
lyeyasu,  as  the  last  one  of  those  corpulent  commanders 
eased  back  upon  the  tired,  stooped  shoulders  bearing 
him  hence  —  to  what  and  where  only  the  lost  and  fad 
ing  records  of  regardful  time  could  or  would  flaunt 
in  the  faces  of  a  blushing  posterity. 

"Are  the  spears  sharp,"  demanded  he,  when  the 
train  had  as  diligently  ranked  apace. 

"I'll  inquire,  sir,"  responded  the  orderly,  thinking 
only  of  the  wage  he  had  contracted  —  and  the  echo 


YODOGIMA  275 

answering  back,  from  the  farthest  spoke  in  the  wheel, 
sounded  like: 

"All's  well,  sir." 

"Avast !  I  warrant,"  muttered  lyeyasu,  "not  one  of 
them  knows  the  meaning,  however  prodded  or  ribbed. 
A  heartless  task,  this;  and,  I  do  believe  the  soul  cries 
—  but  to  the  work: 

"Forward,  march !"  and  the  drive  began ;  the  ma 
chine  creaked;  the  master  builder,  however,  oiled 
methodically  its  thirsty  bearings  and  adjusted  as 
economically  the  squeaking  parts. 

"It's  a  time-keeper,  if  ugly,"  muttered  he,  as  the 
trodden  ground,  too,  responded  with  agony  to  the  list 
less  demands  of  an  overly  candid,  if  seldom  under 
stood,  "tramp,  tramp,  tramp" --and  the  knowing  few. 
constant  criers  of,  "hands  off,  hands  off,  hands  off," 
paled  at  the  prospect  of  their  own  befouling  —  Christ's 
blood  bore  no  relation  to  the  parboiling  blue  of  their 
ensemble ;  Pontius  had  exemplified  the  wiser  conduct. 

Anxious  hearts  and  eager  eyes,  over  there,  on  the 
other  side,  amid  the  burnings  and  yearnings  of  better 
ment,  atop  privilege  and  opposed  to  lying,  their  honor 
at  stake  and  a  lighted  beacon  in  the  hand,  singing 
songs  of  gladness  and  shouting  defiance  at  sin,  a  mis 
sion  to  perform  and  life  ahead  —  these  were  the  men 
and  women  who  manned  the  ship  whose  supercargo 
responds  only  to  healthful  dictation  and  whose  decks 
are  freighted  with  the  fragrant  odor  of  valorous 
deeds. 

"Let  the  work  be  quickly  done,"  advised  Yodogima, 


276  YODOGIMA 

high  at  the  helm's  guidance,  aloft  the  citadel  of  man 
lier  entente.  "Strike  the  vibrating  thing  at  its  weak 
est  point,  and  when  these  carping  conservatives  shall 
have  once  scented  the  cost  of  healthier  action  their 
flagrant  confidence  must  fall  of  its  own  overweight. 
The  very  thought  is  shocking,  but  truth  is  most 
obvious :  the  only  way  to  rid  a  body  is  to  gouge  an  evil 
growth.  Your  hearts  are  strong;  see  that  you  strike 
deep,  and  nobly." 

Not  a  man  faltered,  no  one  questioned  his  rations; 
the  prize  savored  of  freedom,  the  penalties  were  of 
trifling  consideration,  and  these  men  deployed  their 
forces  with  a  vim  and  an  assurance  that  sounded  afar 
the  masked  countenance  of  those  they  defied. 

Kuroda  and  Fukushima  hearkened,  sickening  at 
their  own  stupid  estimate.  The  two  of  them,  lifelong 
servers  of  a  better  fortune,  respected  supporters  of 
Hideyoshi,  had  sworn,  sealing  the  oath  with  their  own 
blood,  to  defend  and  uphold  the  cause  that  Hideyori, 
an  infant,  had  inherited  and  Yodogima,  his  mother, 
now  sought  with  fearless  energy  to  conserve,  that 
Hideyoshi,  the  builder,  had  inaugurated,  and  that  No- 
bunaga,  a  beginner,  had  conceived.  A  terrible  retribu 
tion  bore  down  hard,  as  their  foolish  mistake  and  her 
upright  stand  fairly  began  to  dawn.  Committed  and 
hemmed  in,  there  seemed  no  escape  —  lyeyasu  solved 
the  problem. 

"Banished,"  snarled  he,  to  Hidetada,  his  chief  coun 
sellor,  and  in  the  presence  of  other  barons  assembled 
for  that  purpose;  "and  that  their  example  may  prove 


YODOGIMA  277 

salutary,  in  the  case  of  any  like  minded  or  weak  kneed, 
it  is  my  instruction  that  you  kill  these  upon  the  slight 
est  show  of  rebellion.  To  Yedo  with  them,  and  dagger 
athwart." 

Only  Maeda,  the  younger,  responded ;  he  had  wit 
nessed  the  dispatch  of  his  father,  sometime  guardian 
over  Hideyori,  and  jumping  to  his  feet,  vowed  undy 
ing  fidelity  to  Tyeyasu ;  he  knew  the  forced  intriguer's 
methods,  perhaps  divined  some  advantage  in  his  tac 
tics,  for  he  had  inherited  untouched  his  father's 
estates,  if  not  a  better  securitv  —  Tyeyasu  then  made 
him  head  commander,  under  Hidetada,  his  chief,  sub 
ject  only  to  himself  as  dictator,  obeyed,  if  despised. 

"Then  it  is  Maeda  that  Tyeyasu,  a  wooer,  would 
pit  against  my  Canada,  a  patriot?"  replied  Yodogima. 
when  advised  of  the  circumstance  —  no  doings  on 
either  side  escaped  her;  TCvogoku.  now,  again,  for  the 
one,  and  Honda,  Tyeyasu's  secretarv,  with  the  other, 
proved  good  intelligencers,  if  shakv,  or  resolute,  other 
wise.  "Perhaps  he.  Maeda,  too,  will  have  changed 
somewhat  when  he  has  unexpectedlv  discovered  that 
smoking  powder,  and  not  farmers'  arrows,  await  him. 
Canada  may  sleep  at  the  gate,  but  Maeda  shall  never 
cross  these  walls  —  no  doubt  there  are  others  in  Tve- 
yasu's  train  of  the  same  mind  as  Kuroda  and  Fu- 
kushima:  we  shall  see.  well  before  the  wise  Tyeyasu 
has  bought  or  defeated  a  man  of  mine;  freedom  and 
failure  are  antithetical  in  fact." 

"Ridding  his  camp  of  the  !ast,  as  he  believed,  who 
dared  shake  at  the  knees,  and  shouldering  the  remain- 


278  YODOGIMA 

ing  daimyos  with  the,  brunt  of  fighting  and  danger, 
keeping  his  own  immediate  levies,  the  Tokugawas,  in 
reserve  at  the  rear,  where  neither  spear  or  arrow  nor 
powder  and  shot  could  do  them  harm,  lyeyasu  gave 
out  the  orders: 

"Form  a  semicircle,  the  rest  of  you,  my  doubtful 
daimyos  —  I  shall  test  your  backbones ;  single-handed, 
and  with  no  shelter  available,  you  shall  fight  or  turn 
traitor ;  Yodogima's  methods  and  mood  are  well  known 
-  from  Settsu  to  Idzumi,  surrounding  from  shore  to 
shore  the  enemy's  grounds :  they  will  hardly  take  to 
the  water;  there  are  no  ships  available:  Maeda  shall 
lead  well  round  the  Yamato  (Nara)  hills  and  ap 
proaching  Ozaka  from  the  south,  with  Hidetada  at 
his  rear  and  myself  close  after,  strike  them  at  their 
strongest  point.  The  arm  is  strong,  we  have  two 
to  their  one,  and  every  hot-head  fallen  is  an  abiding 
guarantee  of  peace.  It  is  a  shame  that  these  beautiful 
engines  of  war  should  needs  be  put  to  use,  but  —  well, 
I  have  exhausted  every  recourse  to  bring  Hideyori  to 
my  way  of  thinking:  he  is  foolishly  ambitious,  wick 
edly  rooted,  and  must  be  removed." 

Two  hundred  thousand  of  them  thus  moved  upon 
Yodogima,  the  mother,  perhaps  responsible  for  some 
of  Hideyori's  real  traits,  however  misjudging  or  par 
ticular  lyeyasu  had  taken  it  upon  himself  to  be.  Nor 
had  she  been  less  pronounced  in  her  convictions. 

"Remove  the  cause  for  all  this  war  paraphernalia, 
and  the  effect  shall  be  at  once  to  relieve  humanity  of 
its  needless  building :  the  very  best  way  to  do  that  is  to 


YODOGIMA  279 

use  well  what  we  have  got  —  here  and  elsewhere,  now, 
before  our  resources  shall  have  been  exhausted  with 
trying  to  bluff  each  other,"  she  had  said  to  lyeyasu, 
repeatedly,  upon  his  showing  the  white  feather,  to 
Ilideyoshi,  his  earliest  rival. 

They  came  on,  these  derelicts,  of  duty,  their  ban 
ners  waving  and  mouths  sustaining,  the  advancing 
heavy-weights  skirting  the  mountains  to  the  eastward, 
with  the  singly  doled  daimyos  holding  down  their 
respective  posts  as  assigned.  Yodogima  surveyed  the 
situation,  as  she  could,  from  her  central  position.  The 
semicircle  occasioned  no  uneasiness;  as  she  surmised 
-  lyeyasu  had  overlooked  it  —  every  one  of  them 
considered  his  place  a  most  advantageous  roost  from 
which  to  observe  results  in  front,  sliding  down  on 
either  side  as  convenience  should  dictate. 

They  did  serve  their  would-be  master,  however,  in 
quite  another  respect:  their  absence  relieved  lyeyasu 
of  the  necessity  of  lumbering  more  than  Maeda's  con 
tingent  around  those  hills  and  over  the  plains,  where 
bubbled  the  waters  and  grew  the  seed  Yodogima  had 
sprung  or  sown  in  lavish  abundance.  Patriots  were 
budding  like  cherries  in  springtime,  and  a  driven 
march  but  made  the  fragrance  smell  the  sweeter. 

Xow,  Maeda  swung  into  the  open,  a  formidable 
army  loomed  to  the  southward,  and  Yodogima  breathed 
easier ;  her  estimate  thus  far  had  proven  correct ;  the 
attack  would  come  as  expected ;  lyeyasu  had  employed 
the  only  tactics  he  knew  —  Sanada  apparently  slept  at 
the  nearest  gate. 


28o  YODOGIMA 

Directly  across  the  intended  battlefield,  well  in 
advance  of  the  outer  moat,  running  from  the  water 
front  on  the  right  to  the  river  Nekogawa  at  her  left,  a 
low  embankment,  some  ten  feet  in  height,  had  been 
unexpectedly  thrown  up  and  faced  of  rock,  with  a 
deep  water-trap  hugging  the  farthest  side,  from  end 
to  end. 

The  invaders  mistook  this  to  be  the  outer  moat: 
the  patriots  lay  low,  behind  Sanada ;  who,  to  their 
astonishment,  only  snored. 

Then,  Hidetada  wheeled  his  van,  the  flower  of  Yedo, 
well  onto  the  plain;  they  were  loyal  men,  but  as  yet 
in  the  measurement,  as  to  their  fullest  capacity;  the 
commander-in-chief  had  recruited  of  the  newer  Toku- 
gawa,  and  any  sudden  charge  might  be  expected  to 
stampede  the  whole,  in  case  of  Maeda's  rout,  in  ad 
vance  —  Harunaga,  mobilized  just  inside  the  last  regu 
lar  moat,  at  the  right-hand  gate,  awaiting  only  a 
chance. 

Yodogima  had  not  as  much  confidence  in  his  bold 
ness,  as  respect  for  his  courage;  their  strategy,  like 
the  enemy's  valor,  must  abide  younger  heads  or  hearts 
than  those  of  Harunaga  and  Tyeyasu. 

Lastly,  Tyeyasu  showed  his  face,  and  the  veterans 
of  his  experience,  samurai  tried  and  found  true,  on 
many  a  scarred  and  fought-to-the-fmish  contest,  their 
steps  more  studied  and  ears  better  cocked,  these  trus 
ties  ranked  in,  on  the  farthest  side  of  the  broad  open, 
still  beyond,  in  the  rear.  This,  then,  were  the  division 
that  Hideyori,  young  and  untried,  should  meet,  if 


YODOGIMA  281 

needs  be,  in  a  final  determination  of  their  destinies: 
the  decisive  conflict  of  an  age. 

Hideyori  at  the  beginning:  lyeyasu  at  the  end  of  a 
career. 

"It  is  blood  against  experience,  and  who  would 
change  it?"  half  whispered,  half  shouted  Yodogima,  a 
mother,  as  she  swept  the  horizon  with  those  eyes  that 
had  never  failed  her,  looked  into  the  faces  which  had 
gathered,  and  drilled,  and  armed,  in  behalf  of  manli 
ness. 

"My  dear  men,"  said  she,  turning  to  them,  from 
her  seat  above,  "you  cannot  fail.  Whatever  may  be 
come  of  me,  however  T  or  mine  may  demean  himself, 
manhood  is  the  secret  buried  underneath  or  revealed 
of  any  and  every  godlike  doctrine,  thought,  or  action. 
It  is  Godly,  and  the  trend  of  the  devil  is  toward  the 
flesh.  A  strong  heart  knows  its  haven :  a  weak  one 
abides  the  fires  that  consume.  Manhood  has  made  this 
world  what  it  is,  perhaps  soared  here,  to  this,  from 
planets  above;  is  making  the  world  of  to-day,  how 
ever  prosperous  lying  may  seem;  shall  continue  to 
make  it,  till  there  remains  no  need  of  a  hell  —  thus  and 
then,  only,  may  heaven  be  attained.  On  with  the  work, 
and  let  no  guilty  thing  escape!" 

Jyeyastt.  too,  had  spoken ;  climbing  to  a  hill-top, 
Chausu,  close  at  hand,  on  the  right,  the  would-be  be 
sieger  levelled  his  glasses,  scanning  the  field  before 
him.  His  own  division  of  some  sixty  thousand  samu 
rai  occupied  the  open  lying  between  the  hill  on  which 
he  stood  and  the  sea  to  the  left;  on  the  extreme 


282  YODOGIMA 

opposite  side  of  the  field  to  his  right  stood  Hidetada 
and  his  army  of  equal  size,  extending  on  toward  the 
eastward,  till  the  hill  Okayama,  rearing  up  as  a  senti 
nel,  shut  out  all  intervening  space  between  his  forces 
and  the  river  Hirano:  the  top  of  which  hill  afforded 
also  the  commander-in-chief,  Hidetada,  a  most  excel 
lent  vantage  point. 

At  the  extreme  front,  toward  the  center,  lay  Maeda, 
with  his  perhaps  forty  thousand  Kaga  bloods,  includ 
ing  their  allies,  ready  to  do  when  bid.  To  his,  Maeda's, 
right  and  to  his  left,  spanning  the  distance  from  Hi 
rano  river,  the  eastern  field  border,  to  the  sea  at  the 

west,  stretched,  together  with  his  own an  intended 

battering  ram  —  minor  forces  of  the  doubtful  daimyos 
who  had  been  placed  to  form  the  famed  semicircle,  as 
well  as  such  others  as  had  been  brought  up  to  strength 
en  the  contemplated  charge.  Still  in  front  of  all,  near 
by,  lay  the  small  hill  Sasayama,  coveted  by  Maeda,  but 
held  as  an  outpost  by  Sanada  —  apparently  sleeping, 
farther  on,  at  the  gate  post. 

"We  have  the  foe,  safe  enough,  in  front  of  us :  our 
rear  is  free  from  molestation,"  chuckled  lyeyasu,  to 
Hidetada,  his  son,  who  had  come  over,  in  the  evening, 
to  consult  about  the  proposed  early  morning  attack. 
"With  the  enemy  before  them  and  the  Tokugawa 
behind,  what  chance  have  these  dilatory  daimyos  of 
ours?  Why,  they'll  be  chowdered  before  the  sun  is 
risen." 

"Then  Hidetada  shall  pounce  upon  the  foe  with  the 
freshness  of  morning,"  replied  he,  elated,  if  over- 


YODOGIMA  283 

anxious,  "and  before  the  dew  is  fairly  dried  they  shall 
have  gone,  to  their  happy  hunting-ground." 

"Well  said,  my  son,"  ejaculated  the  forgetful  hero 
of  Sekigahara,  "and  lyeyasu  shall  dine  in  Ozaka." 

"Alone,  father?" 

"Why  do  you  ask;  have  I  ever  denied  you,  my 
boy?" 

"Oh;  I  had  another  thought  in  mind." 

"It  had  been  better,  were  it  a  view." 

"I  don't  just  like,  so  very  much,  righting  in  the  dark ; 
but,  as  it  may  take  the  enemy  some  time  to  obliterate 
Maeda  —  and  the  rest  of  them,  the  sneaking  daimyos' 
lines  —  I  may  not  have  to  expose  myself,  till  daylight, 
at  best,"  surmised  Hidetada,  the  Taira-wed  branch  of 
the  family,  descended  Minamoto. 

lyeyasu  made  no  answer;  he  could  not,  had  he 
tried ;  Yodogima  rose  to  mind,  and  he  thought  only  of 
what  might  have  been,  had  he  but  taken  advantage 
of  Hideyoshi's  bluffing,  long  ago,  at  Fuchu,  the  elder 
Maeda's  once  upon  a  time  seat  of  true  chivalry.  Esyo 
had  in  fact,  as  observed,  exercised  an  influence  over 
her  husband :  what  might  not  the  sister  have  done,  had 
she  been  the  mother." 

"Oh,  well ;  it  is  too  late,  now,"  muttered  the  taiko's 
once  trusted  ally,  giving  the  order,  in  reality,  for  an 
unrecallable,  before-the-day-break  assault ;  then  stag 
gering  to  the  ground,  helplessly,  under  the  weight  of 
his  own  remorseful  thirst,  as  he  did  the  quenchless 
deed.  "Stab;  yes,  stab  her,  too!" 


->_  VODOGIMA 

And  Yodogima  answered,  that  final  test,  as  became 
a  weaker  hand,  if  stronger  heart. 

Fog  clouds  hung  low,  die  darkness  grew  intense, 
and  these  men  could  scarcely  see  their  way;  dread 
uncertainty  had  laid  hold  on  shrivelled  hearts ;  Maeda's 
advance  groped  its  way  round  the  hill  Sasayama; 
Macda  and  some  few  others  climbed  op. 

"Where  is  her*7  asked  they,  of  one  another;  "these 
yiiniiirl^  $ffm  deserted." 

~Hark!    ventured  someone. 

"Did  yon  hear  that  snore?"  inquired  another. 

~It  is  Sanada;  he  sleeps;  over  there;  at  the  outer 
castle  gate;  let  us  strike  him;  he  is  foolish." 

They  stumbled  forward,  in  the  darkness,  and  com 
ing  upon  a  man  propped  against  a  stake,  Date  prodded 
him;  this  daimyo  had  been  doing  similar  service  since 
the  days  of  Odawara. 

"\\~hat  are  you  doing  here ;  do  you  not  know  that 
we  are  enemies?"  inquired  Mori,  another  of  Hide- 
vosni  s  upon— a— time  ^I^TFIX*"  supporters. 

~I  wait  to  see,  that  we  make  no  mistake;  we  have 
some  farmers*  arrows  to  shoot  with,  but  would  do 
no  harm,  to  a  friend." 

**Hear  ybo,"  said  they,  all  alike,  one  to  another,  lie 
makes  sport,  in  die  face  of  danger;  avenge  our  good 
name,  Ma**!^  and  let  us  make  short  work  of  the  rest. 
Did  yon  hear  what  he  said  ?  They  Tiave  some  farm 
ers  aiiows*  —  a  pretty  weapon  to  use  against  such 
as  we!  Spread  die  word,  and  well  scale  those  walls 
before  a  soul  of  them  has  half  finished  sleeping." 


VUDOG1MA  285 

Junkei  therefore  paid  the  penalty,  without  re. 
ance;  he  had  truly  slept  his  sleep,  for  it  was  he  and 
not  Sanada  who  snored  those  daimyos  to  their  doom. 

Eighty  thousand  of  their  force  rushed  forward  to 
scale  the  walls,  and  that  blind  ditch  of  Yodogima's 
provisioning  emptied  its  waters  to  make  room  for  the 
drowning  invaders.  Others  rushed  over  these  and 
against  the  embankment,  where  Sanada  stood,  his 
sleepless  forces  unscathed,  to  chop  and  slash  them 
down.  For  hours  they  mired  and  fought,  trapped 
and  headless  —  but  to  no  purpose ;  every  stone's  width 
in  that  wall  had  its  defender,  with  another  and  still 
others  within  reach  to  take  his  place  should  chance  or 
fatigue  down  and  disable  him.  There  was  no  shout 
ing  of  orders ;  the  word  had  gone  round  and  around 
till  ever}*  man  of  them  knew  by  heart  the  role  he 
should  enact.  Neither  had  a  shot  been  fired ;  the  guns 
lay  loaded,  and  the  powder  unburned,  behind  still 
other  walls  of  huger  import  and  loftier  building. 

Practically  one-third  of  lyeyasu's  strength  —  for 
those  scared  hirelings  did  fight,  when  cornered,  quite 
as  stubbornly  as  the  liege  master's  aged  samurai  could 
have  done  —  his  most  valiant  commander,  under  Hide- 
tada,  Maeda,  and  nearly  all  of  those  doubtful  daimyos 
—  a  few  of  them  yet  remained  behind  Ozaka,  still  in 
the  semicircle  —  were  either  killed,  routed,  or  scared 
into  further  use!  r  was  this  all,  for  inside 

the  fortifications  a  newer  confidence  sprang  to  the  fore, 
impulse  beat  harder  against  the  dictates  of  judgment, 
and  but  for  Yodogima's  influence  alone  they  had 


286  YODOGIMA 

rushed  one  and  all  thirstily  upon  the  waiting  reserves. 

''Calm  yourselves,  my  friends,"  urged  she,  confident 
in  their  strength;  "if  you  would  follow  one  victory 
with  another,  then  buckle  your  armor  the  closer.  Mad 
ness  means  weakness,  and  you  shall  yet  have  enough 
to  do  before  Hidetada  is  worsted;  he  will  not  expose 
his  strength  under  cover  of  night;  he  has  had  better 
training.  And  .there  is  lyeyasu,  behind  him;  an  in 
verted  pyramid,  with  both  sides  blocked  by  natural 
barriers.  Mind  what  I  say:  lyeyasu  planned  well, 
but  his  strategy  is  ancient;  no  doubt  it  served  in  the 
days  of  Confucius,  but  a  new  warfare  has  come;  I 
command  you :  do  not  fire  a  gun,  not  a  man  of  you, 
till  you  can  count  the  teeth,  each  and  everybody  in  his 
target's  head." 

They  waited;  no  one  would  disobey,  and  only  one 
so  much  as  sold  himself  —  Nanjo,  a  subordinate  cap 
tain,  for  a  miserly  price  ventured  to  carry  lyeyasu's 
fiefly  proposals  to  Sanada;  who  scorned  the  proffered 
estates,  publishing  everywhere  the  traitor's  head  as  an 
example.  Here,  at  last,  lyeyasu,  the  wise,  had  found 
exemplified  the  truth,  to  his  betterment,  that  honor  and 
not  gold  measures  the  content  of  highest  living. 

"I  am  doubtful  about  an  open  charge,"  cautioned 
he,  of  Hidetada,  as  the  cover  of  night  began  break 
ing,  yet  far  to  the  eastward. 

"I  am  not,"  replied  the  younger  man,  more  doubt 
ful  about  covers,  or  chicanery,  of  any  kind. 

'Then  you  shall  have  to  face  them  —  I  am  ill." 

"At  ease,  I  trow ;  and  if  you  think  you  can  bribe  a 


YODOGLMA  287 

Taira  into  retirement  —  see  here,  father;  you  should 
have  tried  first  my  wife ;  I  think  I  know  her  breed ;  I 
am  going  to  light." 

The  clouds  rose,  and  the  day  opened  glad,  if  not 
inspiring.  Hidetada  bestirred  himself  with  the  first 
lifting  of  night,  and  as  the  gray  fogs  banked  over 
against  the  gorged-out  mountains,  with  here  and  there 
a  village  or  a  temple  hung  defiantly  or  standing  grace 
fully  upon  some  jutting  point  or  sloping  greensward, 
those  more  sympathetic,  if  rawer,  recruits,  from  the 
Tokugawa  domain,  took  up  the  forward  advance,  and 
refacing  the  broken  fragments  of  Maeda's  demolished 
command  now  at  first  made  that  valley  resound  with 
the  frenzy  of  rallying  blood-tasted  savagery. 

Hidetada  led  them,  and  like  with  him  the  reward  of 
valor  had  justified  the  risk.  Stringing  out  his  long 
formation  into  V  shape,  his  right  resting  upon  the  solid 
Hirano,  the  left  hard  upon  the  seashore,  and  a  solid 
oblong  breaking  and  forming  the  V's  middle,  they 
tramped  straight  ahead,  thus  in  zigzag  alignment,  to 
ward  a  solid  defense,  from  river  to  sea,  behind  the 
fortifications  at  Ozaka. 

"They  mean  to  break  our  walls  midway,  disregard 
ing  altogether  the  gates,  then  quarter  about  and  march 
each  half  to  the  opening  thus  made,"  said  Yodogima, 
to  Hideyori,  her  readiest  counsellor.  "I  wonder  what 
means  they  have  to  batter  down  barriers  so  thick  and 
high  —  a  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  I  presume,  just 
there." 

"Let  them  come,"  replied  the  son.    "And  if  they  do 


288  YODOGIMA 

make  the  breach,  I  promise  you  that  I  and  not  they 
shall  be  the  first  to  sally  through;  Harunaga's  guns 
are  trained,  and  he  is  going  to  count  their  teeth.  De 
pend  upon  it. 

Sanada  lay  close,  under  shelter  of  the  low,  tempo 
rary  embankment :  his  ranks  had  been  little  impaired ; 
Yodogima  remained  high  up  in  the  citadel  —  Hide- 
tada  advanced,  to  the  wall  where  lay  Sanada. 

"What  kind  of  hunting  do  you  have  out  there? 
You  might  find  it  better  on  this  side  the  wall,"  said 
Sanada,  to  Hidetada. 

Hidetada  made  no  answer,  but  began  hopping  his 
men  over  —  the  center  first,  and  then  others,  as  they 
came  up  —  charging  toward  the  outer  main  walls,  as 
Yodogima  had  surmised. 

Sanada  fell  back,  coaxing  them  on. 

"They  had  come  well  within  range  of  Harunaga's 
matchlocks,  the  main  body  facing  them  squarely,  when 
suddenly  there  rang  out  the  unexpected : 

"Fire!" 

The  enemy  fell  like  rice  heads  underneath  a  sickle 
bar,  and  Sanada,  wheeling,  charged  those  reeling  col 
umns  that  Hidetada  had  nrarched  to  no  better  results 
than  Maeda's. 


YODOGIMA  289 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

IYE  Y  ASU  groaned  under  the  weight  of  their  defeat ; 
no  one  knew  better  than  he  the  futility  of  match 
ing  deliance  against  gun-powder,  and  Jokoin  had  fore 
warned  him,  inadvertently  let  the  secret  out,  yet  the 
would-be  builder  of  an  intended  autocracy  dared  not 
delay  at  all  the  execution  of  his  plans.  One  that  had 
of  necessity  materialized  doggedly,  now  found  him 
inconveniently  approaching  the  end  of  any  real  assured 
activity,  then  awaiting  better,  as  he  knew  only  too 
well,  the  internal  weakening  of  a  democracy  engrafted 
firmly,  if  insecurely,  by  Hideyoshi,  in  the  face  of  him. 
His  own  forces,  the  Tokugawas,  upon  whom  he 
could  rely,  were  inadequate  to  batter  down  the  de 
fenses  round  Ozaka,  and  Yodogima,  with  the  Chris 
tians  and  their  devices  safely  driven  into  her  camp, 
required  only  the  opportunity  to  win  over  a  dissent 
ing  element;  who  had  already  begun  to  smart,  if  not 
waver,  under  his  very  questionably  assumed  domina 
tion.  These  he  had  placed  as  well  as  he  could  in  the 
teeth  of  danger,  not  only  to  save  his  own  meager 
samurai,  and  Hidetada's  raw  recruits,  together  con 
stituting  the  heart  and  the  flower  of  the  Tokugawa, 
but  to  weaken  no  less,  if  possible,  the  besieged.  To  do 
this,  a  midnight  attack  proffered  an  only  hope  —  he 
must  not  disclose  the  fact,  yet  knew  of  his  own  knowl 
edge  that  a  daylight  engagement  meant  disaster.  Co^H 

...     His  own 


290  YODOGIMA 

Harunaga  have  been  inveigled  into  wasting  his  ammu 
nition  upon  darkness,  whatever  the  outcome  of  Maeda, 
and  the  daimyos,  those  scarred  samurai  of  his,  follow 
ing  up  the  fiery  youth  under  Hidetada's  command,  had 
made  quick  work  of  all  that  should  be  left  at  the 
castle. 

All  these  plans,  so  carefully  laid,  if  inadvertently 
executed,  had  missed  the  outcome  expected;  the  cha- 
grinned  and  defeated  master  at  last  lay  exhausted 
and  hopeless ;  he  had  threatened  harakiri  as  a  last 
resort;  the  bushida  should  not  be  violated;  Hidetada 
alone  consoled  him ;  the  fragments  of  his  beaten  youths 
were  returning  in  handfuls;  word  came  in,  also,  of 
Hideyori's  marshaling  his  untouched  reserves  and 
that  the  reorganized  and  fired-up  hosts  of  democracy 
might  be  expected  to  swoop  down  upon  them  at  any 
moment. 

"Prepare  yourself,  Hidetada ;  there  is  but  one  honor 
left  us." 

Withdrawing  tearfully,  the  obedient  son,  an  en 
forced  husband  and  dearly-bought  shogun,  staggered 
to  his  own  deserted  quarters ;  only  one  remained  to 
comfort  him. 

"What  now,  my  lord?"  inquired  Esyo,  gallantly,  if 
concerned. 

"Make  ready,  Esyo ;  all  is  done  for,  save  —  " 

"What?" 

"Harakiri." 

"Not  for  me,  my  good  husband." 

"Do  you  deny  me,  also  this  consideration?" 


YODOGIMA  291 

"Yes." 

"Buddha!  May  there  be  one  left,  then,  to  avenge 
my  good  name." 

"There  shall  be  —  Sakuma,  unhand  this  husband  of 
mine,  albeit  he  would  dishonor  not  me;  I  shall  have 
need  for  him  here,  in  better  grace,  if  not  of  reason." 

"Sakuma!  Does  the  grave  yield  its  own?"  whis 
pered  Hidetada. 

"You  see  him  —  perhaps  a  little  aged,  but  in  the 
flesh  and  blood.  Keep  a  good  watch,  Sakuma,  lest 
the  shogun's  honor  fail  me  his  boots." 

Hidetada  may  not  have  liked  the  idea  of  being  dis 
armed,  or  disillusioned,  but  the  reasoning  of  his  wife 
baffled  him.  Abstruse  and  as  headstrong  she  had 
raised  him  from  a  secondary  place  in  the  family  to 
that  of  shogun:  the  very  consciousness  of  that  ad 
vancement  induced  some  consideration  for  if  not  con 
fidence  in  her  abilities,  though  the  methods  yet  seemed 
as  incomprehensible  as  the  motive  hitherto  had  been 
elusive.  The  shogun  therefore  suffered  the  disgrace; 
there  was  no  denying  Esyo,  whether  shamefaced  or 
pleased. 

Xor  did  she  trust  alone  to  promising;  once  his  sword 
had  been  removed,  the  guard  was  doubled  and  in 
structed  to  let  none  pass  —  there  might  have  been  a 
true  samurai  among  them,  though  everybody  left  ap 
peared  to  be  bent  wholly  upon  saving  his  own  neck. 

Esyo  hurriedly  disguised  herself,  for  no  woman 
might  safely  attend  unguarded  the  battlefield.  She 
must  see  lyeyasu,  alone,  and  that  quickly.  His  own 


292  YODOGIMA 

division  steadfastly  maintained  its  rigid  formation, 
expecting  as  well  to  be  called  forthwith  into  action  — 
Honda  had  intercepted  lyeyasu's  threat  at  its  threshold 
—  but  Hidetada's  routed  command  continued  bolting 
headlong  in,  bearing  tales  as  disconcerting  as  un 
timely. 

"Honda?"  whispered  she,  approaching  and  beckon 
ing  from  the  outside. 

"Yes,  my  lady,"  replied  he,  as  nervously  as  anxi 
ously 

"Is  he  still  alive?" 

"Y-e-s  — but  desperate." 

"Then  let  me  in,  and  see  that  none  else  approaches." 

"I'll  do  it,"  swore  he,  in  confidence. 

lyeyasu  sat  with  his  face  buried  close  in  his  hands. 
Why  none  had  come  to  strike  the  stroke  that  should 
save  his  grace  seemed  more  than  he  could  solve. 

"Honda,"  muttered  he,  at  Esyo's  approach.  "Is 
there  none  here,  meaner  than  Honda,  to  serve  me,  in 
this  my  last  right?  Shame  upon  them,  ungrateful 
beggars !" 

"Shame  upon  you,  my  lord,"  hissed  Esyo,  her  blood 
fairly  boiling,  as  she  ran  directly  there.  "What  do 
you  mean,  by  acting  in  this  way?" 

lyeyasu  looked  up,  amazed  if  relieved.  He  had  mis 
taken  her  for  Honda. 

"Oh,  it  is  you,  is  it?  I  thought  you  safe  in  Ozaka, 
no  doubt  before  this." 

"'Well  I  might  be,  and  you,  too,  were  you  not  quite 
bent  upon  insulting  others." 


YODOGIMA  293 

"I,  insult  anyone?    And  who  might  it  be,  pray." 

"Among  others,  Yodogima,  my  sister." 

"Yodogima !" 

"Yes,  Yodogima." 

"Why  so?" 

"She  just  now  sends  a  message,  inquiring  about  your 
welfare." 

"Uy  whom?" 

"Kyogoku." 

"She  loves  me  still,  and  I  would  kill  myself?  No, 
no;  I  must  see  her.  Esyo;  can  you  arrange  it;  I 
would  first  meet  Yodogima?" 

"Promise  me  this:  you  will  keep  the  engagement." 

"I  swear  it." 

"Then  lend  me  your  sword;  I  shall  have  had  need 
for  it  before  I  am  returned." 

Over  at  Ozaka,  men  bound  and  eager,  to  follow  up 
a  significant  rout,  were  massing  and  ordering  and 
devising  the  last  and  only  onslaught  that  had  been 
necessary  to  end  a  feudalism,  throttle  an  aristocracy, 
and  implant  for  good  the  democracy  that  Hideyoshi 
had  all  but  consolidated. 

Yodogima  looked  out  and  over  the  dazzling  troop 
ers,  as  they  marched  and  countermarched  to  orders 
flowing  from  lips  she  adored  as  only  a  mother  can. 
Hideyori,  her  son,  had  come  into  his  own ;  should 
follow  up  that  defeated  army,  and  make  doubly  sure 
glories  which  were  of  right  only  his ;  would  send  his 
name  down  to  all  posterity,  as  the  builder  of  a  com 
monwealth  founded  upon  an  equality  of  opportunity 


294  YODOGIMA 

and  with  favoritism  to  none.  Men  and  women  should 
thenceforth  develop  the  ideal  that  God  infixes,  share 
the  real  in  due  proportion,  and  worship  according 
to  the  dictates  each  of  his  own  untrammelled  con 
science. 

"God  bless  you,  my  son;  and  may  He  give  you 
strength  to  win,"  said  she,  with  no  other  thought  en 
couraging,  as  their  preparations  progressed  apace. 

Then,  as  if  fate  intervened,  she  looked  toward  the 
South.  The  mother  instinct  had  strangely  given  way, 
to  that  other  force,  man's  larger  comprehension.  Love 
itself  had  beamed  inconsequently  through  those  rays 
illuminating  and  searching  had  not  a  lesser  respondent 
turned  henvenward  with  glad  countenance  long  before 
race  or  creed  echoed  the  part  and  powers  of  an  abiding 
God. 

'"Kyogoku?"  commanded  she.  "Carry  this,  a  mes 
sage,  to  lyeyasu.  Then  await,  at  yonder  gate,  his 


YODOGIMA  295 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

YODOGIMA  apparently  faltered  in  the  face  of 
positive  victory.  Was  it  soul  that  stirred  her 
to  larger  comprehension,  or  had  God  himself  inter 
vened  to  stay  an  absolute,  a  total,  the  fatal? 

Jokoin  came  in  from  the  field,  aglow  with  expec 
tation,  fairly  dawning  and  resolving  at  the  prospect 
of  Hideyori's  famed,  unquestioned  gallantry.  His 
furbelows  shone  out  bewilderingly  beautiful  under  the 
influence  of  a  risen  sun,  and  her  light  heart  danced 
the  more  in  consequence  of  its  apparently  disasso 
ciated  illusionment  —  the  food  she  really  relished. 

"It's  a  jolly  fair  day,  this,  Yodogima,"  promised  she, 
bounding  in,  without  so  much  as  a  permission.  "Have 
you  seen  the  artillery?  Oh,  but  it's  an  odd  looking 
thing —  a  gun  on  wheels !  I'm  sure  if  lyeyasu  had 
had  one  like  it  he  could  have  made  some  impression 
on  these  walls.  I  should  like  to  have  seen  the  fun  — 
but,  I  suppose,  it's  lucky  there  was  only  one  of  them 
to  be  had;  and  luckier  still  that  we've  got  it.  We 
couldn't  have  made  out  at  all  without  the  Christians, 
and  they're  a  bully  lot,  too;  gold  is  no  temptation  to 
such  people." 

"Perhaps,"  remarked  Yodogima,  unconcernedly  — 

A  shell  burst  near  by,  in  the  palace  grounds.  The 
impact  deafened  them. 


296  YODOGIMA 

'"Horrors!"  exclaimed  Jokoin,  nestling  close  under 
Yodogima's  shelter. 

"I  am  afraid  there  must  have  been  two  of  them, 
after  all,"  surmised  Yodogima,  attempting  to  calm  the 
fears  of  Jokoin.  "But  it  is  too  late  now,  to  be  firing 
at  random  into  the  castle.  They  had  better  save  them 
selves  the  trouble.  Oh,  well ;  I  shouldn't  mind  a  little 
thing  like  that;  Hideyori  shall  soon  enough  put  an 
end  to  any  further  nonsense  of  the  kind.  Have  cour 
age,  Jokoin." 

"I  pray  they  don't  shoot  again,  this  way." 

Esyo  had  directed  a  return  message  in  care  of  Jo 
koin,  at  the  hands  of  Kyogoku ;  she  understood  this 
particular  sister,  suspicioned  her  true  proclivities,  and 
surmising  that  a  well  directed  shot  would  startle  her 
into  the  activities  desired  —  should  induce  the  younger 
to  implore  the  elder  sister  —  had,  herself,  unbeknown 
either  to  her  husband  or  his  father,  brought  into  use 
an  old  mortar,  a  companion  piece  to  the  one  boasted 
of  Hideyori,  purchased  in  consequence  by  lyeyasu  at 
great  expense  and  stored  away  safely  under  cover  of 
his  compound,  admiredly,  if  not  for  service. 

"I'll  give  them  a  taste  in  advance,  of  what  is  to 
come,"  threatened  she,  as  the  inexperienced  gunners 
fell  back  in  terror  and  she  herself  tripped  forward  to 
light  the  fuse. 

The  aim  proved  blunderingly  good :  though  the  cita 
del  her  intended  target  had  been  missed,  a  small  addi 
tion  to  one  of  the  minor  buildings  was  in  fact  demol 
ished  and  some  two  or  three  of  the  occupants  —  serv- 


YODOGIMA  297 

ing  maids  to  Yodogima  —  were  as  observed  at  this 
either  maimed  or  killed  outright. 

The  explosion  had  its  desired  effect,  and  no  amount 
of  assurance  or  coaxing  would  or  could  allay  the  fears 
or  quell  the  anxiety  of  concerned  Jokoin.  She  must 
at  once  and  at  all  hazards  get  Yodogima  out  of  that 
demonical  inferno  —  her  own  security  quite  over 
looked  —  and  when  Kyogoku  came  in  with  the  mes 
sage  supposedly  from  lyeyasu,  Yodogima,  perhaps  to 
quiet  Jokoin,  but  more  likely  to  carry  out  a  deeper- 
laid  plan  of  her  own,  readily  yielded  to  her  little  sis 
ter's  persuasion. 


Meet  me,  at  Kyogoku's  residence,  outside  the  castle  ; 
I  must  see  you,  and  would  ask  no  further  guarantee 
than  yours. 

IYEYASU." 

It  was  all  there  was  of  the  message  —  presumably 
an  answer  to  the  one  she  had  sent  —  yet  no  greater 
influence  than  Jokoin's  pleading  were  necessary  to 
induce  an  immediate  cessation  of  hostilities  on  Yodo- 
gima's  part  —  insofar  as  a  meeting  with  lyeyasu  was 
concerned. 

Hideyori  protested.  For  once  hi>  will  rebelled 
against  his  mother's.  The  opportunity  proffering  over 
whelmed  every  other  consideration,  and  the  young 
man  proudly  threatened  to  die  behind  those  walls 
rather  than  let  the  enemy  enter  otherwise  than  as  van 
quished. 


298  YODOGIMA 

"Meet  my  mother,  upon  friendly  terms?  It  is  im 
possible!" 

"But,  my  son,  lyeyasu  out  of  the  way  the  empire 
shall  fall  directly  into  your  hands;  there  is  none  else 
to  dispute  you,  and  war  is  —  " 

"Hell  —  all  of  which  Kitagira  advised  me  long  ago; 
but  you  see  them  anxious  on  all  hands  —  just  now, 
since  that  message  was  written,  a  shell  has  been  fired 
into  our  midst.  There  is  no  end  to  fighting  as  long 
as  men's  blood  runs  red." 

Yodogima  paused ;  it  had  come  to  a  parting  with  the 
one  or  the  other.  Blood  and  love  are  elemental  with 
in  the  human,  but  only  for  love  there  had  been  none 
to  measure  in  the  light  of  soul;  heart  and  instinct 
might  have  gone  on  hand  in  hand,  yet  an  Infinity's 
unvarying  prudence  saw  fit  to  match  understanding 
against  the  one;  love  is  an  affinity. 

"Then  accept  my  blessing,"  urged  the  mother, 
thoughtfully,  after  a  while ;  "mine  is  run." 

"And  give  you,  as  well,  my  protection;  have  no 
fear;  go  as  you  like;  do  what  conscience  bids,  and 
the  gods  shall  render  you  justice." 

"Harunaga?"  commanded  he,  directing  his  further 
conversation  to  him. 

"Yes,  my  lord." 

"Do  not  call  me  lord  —  not  to-day ;  to-morrow  you 
may,  but  if  you  would  serve  me  now  attend  my  moth 
er;  old  men  should  yet  be  of  some  help,  and  if  there 
are  any  others,  of  a  like  mind,  behind  these  walls,  let 


YODOGIMA  299 

them,  too,  depart ;  this  is  going  to  be  a  hot  place,  per 
chance  worse,  if  I  interpret  Esyo's  message  correctly." 

''Esyo!"  gasped  Jokoin. 

"Yes;  it  is  she;  and,  you  are  safe  at  Kyogoku's." 

"I  shall  remain  here,"  replied  Jokoin,  unobserved  by 
Yodogima;  whose  interests  had  already  settled  upon 
one  thought  only. 

These  went  their  way,  Yodogima  accompanied  by 
Kyogoku,  to  the  latter's  yashiki,  a  commodious  dwell 
ing,  nestled  away  among  the  samurai  huts  fringing 
the  castle  grounds  all  round  well  under  the  outlying 
city's  over-crowding  borders.  It  was  a  sightly  place 
and  a  safe  one  to  which  the  honor-bound  Kyogoku,  a 
trusted  intermediary,  had  led  the  proud,  if  anxious, 
princess,  there  to  meet  and  do  with  life's  final  con 
summation.  The  very  walls  around  seemed  to  echo 
some  fain  portent,  in  keeping  with  time's  most  cruelly 
adjudged,  if  seemly  ending. 

Harunaga  lay  hidden  in  the  fastness  of  an  humbler 
shrine  builded  farther  up  on  the  hillside  overlooking 
the  walls  and  guarding  eagerly  each  approach.  No 
deed  of  the  hand  or  foulness  of  a  heart  should  harm 
or  hinder  his  ladyship's  grace  as  long  as  he  might 
serve ;  he  had  divined  well  her  secret,  and  marshalled 
afresh  his  own  hardening  courage:  sought  as  best  he 
knew  to  induce  the  moral  which  every  man  must  finally 
know  as  in  prudence  wisely  revealed. 

She  had  gone  there  that  Hideyori's  hand  might  not 
be  stained,  that  a  nation  should  rise  upon  the  hard- 
burned  figments  of  ambition,  that  her  love  attain  its 


300  YODOGIMA 

just  reward,  and  an  ideal  come  down  from  heaven  to 
earth  —  a  life's  work  rounded  out  in  God. 

Weighing  over  against  his  own  feelings  a  greater 
force,  the  obligations  that  he  had  incurred,  this  gray- 
haired  bonze,  faith's  most  truly  devoted,  resolved  in 
his  own  heart  that  she  had  chosen  well,  and  that  so 
long  as  he  might  prevent,  her  confidence  should  not 
be  abused  or  lyeyasu's  word  broken.  Harunaga  sat 
there,  as  he  had  lived,  the  sphinx,  grinning  against 
the  gray  and  the  dawn  of  duty. 

Little  birds  twittered  in  the  tree-tops,  the  frosts  of 
winter  threatened  coming  on,  the  shadows  of  evening 
were  lengthening  and  casting  their  grim  visages  toward 
the  treasured  homestead  she  had  left — • 

Two  chairs,  one  bearing  the  three  asarum  leaves, 
the  other  an  under  man's  crest,  came  tottering  up  the 
long,  crooked,  narrow,  and  overshacled  alley-way,  the 
first  ahead  and  the  other  after,  their  heads  bobbing 
and  poles  creaking,  to  the  patter  of  hurrying  feet  and 
bating  of  heated  breaths.  Harunaga,  springing  to  his 
feet,  edged  closer  to  the  wall,  and  peering  hard  through 
its  miserly  cracks  muttered: 

"It  is  well,"  and  the  two  passed  on,  to  their  fainly 
induced,  if  death  averting,  task. 

Dismounting  and  dismissing  the  carriers,  the  two 
entered,  at  one  side  the  larger  passage,  through  a 
small,  low  gate  in  the  massive  unscalable  stone  fence 
surrounding  the  house;  leaving  and  abandoning  thus 
any  means  of  defence  or  escape,  for  the  gate  once 
closed  could  not  be  again  opened  without  assistance. 


YODOGIMA  301 

lyeyasu  apparently  bore  no  weapon  at  all,  and  Honda 
carried  only  the  customary  appendages  allowable  to  a 
gentleman  of  his  worth  and  rank.  Harunaga,  it  would 
seem,  had  adjudged  rightly,  for  he  gave  the  matter  no 
further  concern. 

Kyogoku  met  them  at  the  inner  entrance,  in  response 
to  lyeyasu's  loud  knocking  upon  the  door-case. 

"Welcome,  my  lord,"  vouched  the  former;  whereat 
the  latter  responded : 

'Thank  you,  but  not  as  lord;  I  seek,  am  harmless, 
hence  lordless.  I  trust  I  find  myself  still  bidden  and 
the  princess  in  good  parts.  May  I  enter?" 

The  leaves  upon  the  trees,  standing  here  and  there 
like  sentinels,  rustled  gently  in  the  day's  abiding 
round,  yet  there  arose  out  of  its  vigor  as  it  were  the 
meaning  of  a  rebirth,  the  resurrection  of  man,  the  in 
spiration  of  soul  —  an  ever-present  God,  whom  the 
grind  of  time  or  the  compensations  of  living  alone 
reveal. 

Conjure  that  God  as  we  may,  borrow  if  we  can, 
proclaim  Him  from  the  house  tops  though  we  do, 
worship  whom  we  will,  there  is  no  salvation  till  the 
eye  has  responded  to  conscience ;  and  going  there, 
as  he  did,  had  lyeyasu  but  answered  to  the  call  that 
emanated  betwixt  duty  and  neglect?  Had  Yodo- 
gima  found  a  haven  that  is  neither  of  the  real  nor  of 
the  ideal?  Had  the  circle  that  encompasses  encoun 
tered  its  magnet? 

The  broad  vistas  opening  to  the  eastward  carried 
their  gaze  back  over  the  same  fields  they  had  but 


302  YODOGIMA 

trodden:  a  Star  illuminated  the  universe,  and  their 
hearts  throbbed  with  the  freshness  of  a  regenerated 
past.  No  earthly  thing  could  have  parted  them1 :  might 
a  heavenly  grace  have  cemented  more  deeply  the  af 
fection  they  two  had  wrought  in  the  fiery  cauldron  of 
human  endeavor?  lyeyasu  bowed  low  in  her  pres 
ence,  and  she  responded  as  no  other  living  thing 
responds  —  the  light  of  intelligence  made  certain  the 
order  intended. 

Sitting  there,  in  quiet  contemplation,  upon  the 
floating  bridge  they  trod,  the  future  alone  bursting 
jealously,  they  greeted  each  other;  he,  "How  good  to 
meet  a  lovely  woman" ;  she,  "How  lovely  to  meet  an 
honorable  man" :  thence  love  ruled  and  blessings 
showered. 

Out  upon  the  field,  in  front,  Hideyori  thundered 
the  cry  of,  "To  battle,"  and  Esyo  marshaled,  as  well, 
the  hosts  against  him.  War  reigned  there. 


^(v 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


flUG    5  1978 


BEC.CIB.AU6l 


LD  21A-50m-8.'61 
(Cl795slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


YB  5959' 


250181 


: 


